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Southern Discomfort
Southern Discomfort: A Memoir | Tena Clark
5 posts | 10 read | 9 to read
In the bestselling tradition of The Help comes a riveting, and profoundly moving memoir set in rural Mississippi during the Civil Rights era about a white girl coming of age in a repressive society and the woman who gave her the strength to forge her own paththe black nanny who cared for her. Tena Clark was born in 1953 in a tiny Mississippi town close to the Alabama border, where the legacy of slavery and racial injustice still permeated every aspect of life. On the outside, Tenas childhood looked like a fairytale. Her father was one of the richest men in the state; her mother was a regal beauty. The family lived on a sprawling farm and had the only swimming pool in town; Tena was given her first cara royal blue Camaroat twelve. But behind closed doors, Tenas life was deeply lonely, and chaotic. By the time she was three, her parents marriage had dissolved into a swamp of alcohol, rampant infidelity, and guns. Adding to the turmoil, Tena understood from a very young age that she was different from her three older sisters, all of whom had been beauty queens and majorettes. Tena knew she didnt want to be a majoretteshe wanted to marry one. On Tenas tenth birthday, her mother, emboldened by alcoholism and enraged by her husbands incessant cheating, walked out for good, instantly becoming an outcast in society. Tena was left in the care of her black nanny, Virgie, who became Tenas surrogate mother and confidanteeven though she was raising nine of her own children and was not allowed to eat from the familys plates or use their bathroom. It was Virgies acceptance and unconditional love that gave Tena the courage to stand up to her domineering father, the faith to believe in her mothers love, and the strength to be her true self. Combining the spirit of poignant coming-of-age memoirs such as The Glass Castle and vivid, evocative Southern fiction like Fried Green Tomatoes, Southern Discomfort is about the people and places that shape who we areand is destined to become a new classic.
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review
Wife
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I ❤️ a good memoir! Bonus: excellently read by the author. Tena was raised in Mississippi by a “complicated” man during segregation and the civil rights era. Even as a child, she fought against the injustice of the times and the South. Warning ⚠️ Language of the times is difficult to hear, but I want her to tell me how it really was...no sugar coating for me. Also, get your tissues ready before chapter 30 😭😭😭 4/5⭐️s

catebutler This sounds intriguing! 5y
Wife I‘m glad I stumbled onto it. It was very honest and raw. Some heart ❤️ wrenching moments though. And if you see it through to the end, you‘ll see that indeed her father was a “ complicated” man. 5y
Reviewsbylola Ok first off, that author looks amazing for being born in 1953! Also, this reminds me a bit of my dad and his nanny. She essentially raised him. She died almost thirty years ago and he still has her picture on his dresser. ❤️ 5y
Wife @Reviewsbylola Virgie was the only one that was stable and showed unconditional ❤️ 5y
Kaye I have this on audio. Great to see a photo of the author ! I knew she was around my age just from the little bit I‘ve read about it. I love southern memoirs. 5y
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GerardtheBookworm
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Think a sequel to The Help. Tena Clark grew up as a affluent southern belle in the segregated south. From her racist family to her blooming sexuality and her burgeoning activism, this a feel good, sweet memoir.

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underground_bks
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At turns heartwarming, horrifying, comic, and eye-opening, this memoir, like the Southern family it chronicles, defies easy definition. Whether it‘s her mother‘s high-speed car shoot-out of her father and his mistress, the mothering the family‘s black maid Vergie shows her, or Tena‘s coming out, Tena Clark‘s memoir of growing up in Jim Crow Mississippi touches on issues of racism, sexuality, family, and the hair-pulling complexities of the South.

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HillsAndHamletsBookshop
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Tena Clark‘s memoir about growing up in rural Mississippi is the southern memoir of the year y‘all. This isn‘t my wording, but I will paraphrase the publisher‘s blurb on the arc: Southern Discomfort is The Glass Castle meets Fried Green Tomatoes. Get ready bookseller friends, this will be a big hit this fall when it comes out. A powerful, satisfying, page-turning memoir, good for fans of this year‘s earlier hit memoir, Educated by Tara Westover.

Quirkybookworm Ooooo can I steal it from you😉😉 6y
HillsAndHamletsBookshop Get in line, lol! 😜 6y
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