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Momma Was Home, But She Wasn’t There by Clariece E.C. Burke

Momma Was Home, But She Wasn’t There is a beautiful collection of memories told in a distinct style that reads like an oral history, rather than a traditional memoir. The cadence of the speech and establishment of the timeline feels like a grandmother recounting her life to her grandchildren, teaching them lessons of a slower time and sharing her past heartbreak.

In total, the work is a collage of memories, stitched together like a quilt. Clariece E.C. Burke tells of her mother’s early demise, of her marriage and her fears of becoming a wife, of her grandfather’s favoritism for her younger brother, and of a colorful life working in a jail. She threads this patchwork of memories together with a throughline of family, loss and growing up.

A PORTRAIT OF THE DEPRESSION ERA

In the opening pages, Burke begins with her childhood and the loss of her mother to tuberculosis during the 1930s. She grows up parallel to her mother, rather than by her side as her mother is locked away in a small bedroom apart from her family. Burke harnesses this experience and reminisces through the eyes of herself as a child — which she does with both grace and expertise.

Burke perfectly captures a young person’s sensation of loss, painting it as confusion and a determination that the adults in her life must have misread the situation. She illustrates this beautifully when detailing her mother’s funeral, yelling “Momma wake up!” 

After painting this introduction from her younger self’s perspective, she pulls back to the present. There, she reflects on the sorrow her mother must have felt living in such close proximity to her family but having to maintain a distance. This isolation is a sensation too many of us can relate to from our experiences in recent years. The pain she describes strikes a deep and relevant chord.

ONE FAMILY’S CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS

What Burke emphasizes throughout the story is a deep love of close family. Even when detailing moments we might consider outrageous today — like her grandfather having the children physically fight to resolve their squabbles and then punishing the loser of the fight — she rarely looks back with resentment or anger. Instead, she chooses to reflect on the bonds of the family and how meaningful they were to her.

Much of the book focuses on the difficulties and hardships the family weathered. From schoolyard bullies to severe illness, Burke recounts all in stride with the knowledge that the past is exactly that — past. The silver linings are what she takes from it all, with a wizened air. 

UNIQUE MEMOIR THAT RESONATES TODAY

This book is a valuable close account of life in the depression era, which is quickly fading from the memory of much of the population. The memoir underscores the strides the author and the world have made since these moments took place. In many ways, the stories recounted are still resonant at the core of our modern experiences.

Momma Was Home, But She Wasn’t There is a break from the expectations of a traditional memoir. Clariece E.C. Burke brings a new style of storytelling free from the confines of chronology. However, her memoir is traditional in what counts: it recounts the heart of a family through one woman’s unique experience, detailing a past and a time that should not be forgotten.

Momma Was Home, But She Wasn’t There is available for purchase on Amazon.

 

About Clariece E.C. Burke:

As a retired senior case manager from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Clariece worked on sharing her story on and off for many years. 

Born during the Great Depression, Tuberculosis epidemic and the Oklahoma Dustbowl era, her life was certainly different than what life is like today for most people, but in several ways, ultimately still very similar.

She is a daughter, sister, mother, wife and survivor.

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Momma Was Home, But She Wasn’t There by Clariece E.C. Burke
Author: Clariece E.C. Burke
Madison Hill

Madison Hill graduated from the University of North Georgia with a degree in English Writing and Publication. She currently works full-time as a legal assistant, where she enjoys causal chats with insurance adjusters and looking at pictures of crunchy cars. In her free time, she prefers to read books, write, and rewatch the same four TV shows. Her favorite books feature a good laugh with a side of existential crisis.

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