In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face flushed, and she turned her head to look out the window. After a second, she squeezed my hand and looked back in my eyes. She said, “You’ve always been a good girl, Maude, and … done what I told you. Now, you’re going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand, but I nodded my head anyway. It sounded strange to me, the way so many things did. I would do what she told me. I didn’t have a choice, any more than I had a choice in being born.
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She had me at “based on a true story”… This is such a compelling read and it’s hard to even say why. The author is writing about her grandmother, a woman whose life was shaped by her gender and her circumstance. Tragedy after tragedy, twist after turn, I couldn’t stop following this woman’s journey until the very end. She started her existence in a small, rural community before automobiles were introduced and ended it in the bustling metropolis of Detroit in its heyday. The historical perspective alone was eye-opening but it was the personal experience, the reality of a life lived, choices made, cosequences unfolding, that kept me turning the pages.
Maude is the amazing biography of author Donna Mabry’s grandmother. It takes us from Maude’s birth in 1892 to her passing in 1963, through two wars, the Spanish flu pandemic, the great depression, and the birth and death of Maude’s children. Author Donna tells the story of Maude’s tragic life with love, compassion, sensitivity, and above all, honesty.
This is not the story of someone rich or famous but of an average person struggling to find peace in a life fraught with heartache. It’s a fascinating true story, written with love, that reads like a novel. 5 stars.
This is the story of Maud who in 1906 who lost her parents at the age of 14 and was forced to get married. Take the journey through Maud’s life. Very interesting book. The characters are well developed and the book is well written.
The beginning of this novel was so good and I wanted to recommend it to everyone. Then life, as it can sometimes do, just deals blow after blow after blow. By the end of the novel I was heartbroken for all that had happened, all the potential that had been lost and that for some there is no happy ending.
A fascinating memoir about a girl named Maude who was born in the late 1800s. It is written by her granddaughter who was riveted by the stories her grandmother told about her life. Orphaned at eight and married at fourteen, Maude endured one hardship after another. A very well written and engaging story.
One of the best books I’ve read. At first I thought it was fiction, and when I realized it wasn’t, I thought to myself that this is one tough woman. She’s also wise and has more common sense than most people. She lived a harder life than many, yet kept her faith intact and her family fed. I would love to have met her. This is one of those books you don’t forget after you read it. It is excellent!
I loved this story. It was real, informative and poignant.
I enjoyed this book. . Very believable character!
This is my all time favorite book! I read it on my kindle app and then I bought a hard copy to have also!!! One book I WILL read over and over.
Bio’s & Memoirs are not my normal read/listen, but WOW Maude by Donna Mabry is flat out amazing! Gripping from start to finish! Outstanding narration by Shana Gagnon, her voice lined up perfectly with what I expected from Maude. I highly recommend five stars!!!!!
The author tells her grandmother’s tale, and before too many pages have passed, women readers will truly appreciate the difficulties women had in the past. This book puts you right back in that time. I know you might think it’s not “my kind of genre,” based on what I write, but I read almost every sort of book, and this one really impressed me.
A tragic story of the life of Maude, born in the late 1800’s in Western Tennessee. An orphan at the age of eight, married at 14, widowed in her teens, et. al. She was devoted to her family through a forty year loveless marriage and dysfunctional family. This book pulls you into Maude’s life, pulling for her during her struggles and crying for her through the toughest of times. You will find this authentic, well-written story hard to put down.