Clell, Madison – Cuckoo

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Cuckoo

What a powerful, disturbing book. The only thing I could wish to be different would be the order in which her stories were told. It might have been a bit more coherent if everything was told in chronological order. Then again, coherency was not the reason for this book, and it’s certainly not how she’s lived her life, so why should the reader get a linear, clear picture? Madison Clell lives with multiple personalities, and these multiple personalities were created after several horribly traumatic things happened to her as a child. She doesn’t shy away from much of anything in here and, like she points out, if you’ve been molested as a child and haven’t been able to deal with it, you should probably avoid this book. It’s sure to trigger some terrible memories, and I just realized that I said “haven’t been able to deal with it”, like I have any idea what somebody would deal with who was molested as a child. Anyway, all the gory details are here. Her discovery of what she was suppressing and all the extra personalities that were inside her as a result. It’s a depressing book, granted, but there’s a whole lot to be said for the fact that she’s still here, and that she seems to have this pretty much under control. This is one of those “transcends the genre” kind of books for me. Not that I’m putting down the genre, as anybody who has seen this site before can attest to, but this is one of those books that I can recommend to anybody, anywhere, who is looking for a fascinating, eye-opening tale of survival. Check her website for ordering info, I’m having trouble finding anything…