I haven't read anything else by Mary Karr (although now I want to!) but the honesty and compassion in her voice makes this a compelling read, even for someone who has no intention of writing a memoir.

I barely made it through a tenth of this book which despite ostensibly being set in the 19th century, reads like one written in the late 20th century. The anachronistic diction (both in dialogue and narrative) is distracting.