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Where You End and I Begin
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Leah McLaren
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
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Where You End and I Begin
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Publisher's Summary
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A daughter’s unflinching exploration of the intimate and unconventional relationship she shared with her mother—a brilliant, charismatic woman haunted by a traumatic past.
When Leah is eight, her mother, Cessie, abruptly flees her role as a rural housewife in search of a glamorous career in the city. In the chaotic years that follow, Cessie lurches from one apartment, job, and toxic romance to the next. In a home without rules or emotional boundaries, daughter and mother become close confidantes—a state of enmeshment that suits them both. Their bond is loving but also marked by casual indifference. Cessie’s self-described parenting style of “benign neglect” is a hilarious party joke, but for her daughter it’s reality. In Leah’s first year of high school, her mother makes a disclosure that will forever alter their relationship: She confides that from the age of 12 well into her teens, she was the lover of her 45-year-old married pony club instructor. The trauma of the “Horseman,” Cessie explains, is not just a dark family secret but the reason for all her ill-conceived life choices, including marriage and motherhood itself. For years after, into adulthood, Leah is haunted by the specter of the Horseman. He is the nameless anxiety and restlessness she observes in her mother and increasingly recognizes in herself. Eventually, she and Cessie set out to discover truth of what became of her mother’s rapist. The investigation that ensues pushes their relationship to the brink of collapse. Leah is seeking solace in the facts, but first she must confront a deeper, more painful truth: that her story—the story of trying and failing to love a complicated mother—is not the Horseman’s after all. A riveting and devastating portrait of mother and daughter, Where You End and I Begin is a memoir that explores how trauma is shared between women and how acts of harm can be confused with acts of love.
What the critics say
"Intelligent and affecting . . . magnificent. . . . A kaleidoscopic portrayal of family ties at their most complex and beautiful." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A work of probing insight and undaunted compassion; one that’s fearlessly engrossing, frequently funny and sometimes plain hair-raising." —The Guardian
“Readers will be fascinated by this richly detailed yet never sensationalized account that serves to illustrate the many ways trauma can cast a shadow over a family for generations. McLaren has a difficult story to share, and she does it with kindness and clear-eyed forgiveness.” —Booklist
What listeners say about Where You End and I Begin
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-09-04
I have only one complaint
Wonderfully written and relatable. I struggled through hearing the narrator (author?) swallowing and swirling saliva which was very audible and distracting. If only that could be edited out, I would listen again. I did unfortunately, find this distracting, although this may be my own sensitivity. Still a important memoir that many daughter's will find relatable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Leanne Fournier
- 2023-02-11
Beautifully paced
Leah McLarens memoire carries along in her daunting exploration of her relationship with her mother always under the shadow of who own whose story. Brilliantly told.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- lessstuff
- 2023-01-21
Needs a new narrator due to saliva issue
This is an interesting story and I would love to hear it, but I felt uncomfortable with Leah's narration due to a slight excess of saliva which can be heard as she reads. It's not major and most people might not notice it but for the squeamish it is too much.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-08-10
Would be better with half the number of pages and one percent of the metaphors
Overall the story was a very complex and tragic one with little detail left right ones imagination
Although I listen to the end I found the author to be very self indulgent at times with an excessive distracting use of metaphors I felt like I was back in grade 9 English class listening to a writing piece that I had a rubric heavily weighted towards the metaphoric
I would say she could’ve told the story and half the number of pages and that it would’ve been more effective very very repetitive at times
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1 person found this helpful