I've been obsessed with the idea of writing my own memoir for a while now. It seems writing a books takes some time, so between full time work and the full time job of taking care of my health, it's slow going. Maybe one day, but for now, here are my top three favourite memoirs that I highly recommend you read...
1. Eggshell Skull, Bri Lee
I personally grew up in rural(ish) Queensland and later moved to Brisbane to study law. My first venture into the legal industry was a visit to the Brisbane District/Supreme Court with my high school legal studies class. This is where a lot of Bri Lee's story takes place, in and out of Court rooms all over Queensland. Her story of childhood sexual assualt and courageously enduring the currently broken justice system is compelling and her beautiful writing even more so.
"The ugly parts of my life kept crashing into the beautiful ones."
The title comes from the legal principle, that you take your victim as you find them. For example, if you punch a victim and they happen to have an "eggshell skull" and are more seriously injured than if they did not have that condition, you can be charged for the more serious outcome.
I had the privilege of meeting Bri, along with two other campaigners for sexual assault victims as they worked with one of my law professors to change sexual assault laws in Queensland and Australia. You can visit Bri's website here, and read more about the campaign to change consent laws in Queensland here.
2. Educated, Tara Westover
So engagingly written, I read this one over Christmas and I could barely put it down to spend a moment with my family. Written by Tara Westover, this memoir follows her journey from a conservative, fundamentalist Mormon family who don't believe in education to undergraduate university and on to Cambridge. Her determination is downright inspiring and her way with words is so breathtakingly unique.
As soon as I finished reading Educated, I knew I needed some of Tara Westover's words on my wall, so I immediately lettered the below quote.
"You are not fools gold, shining only under a particular light. Whomever you become, whatever you make yourself into, that is who you always were. It was always in you. Not in Cambridge. In you. You are gold."
3. Group, Christie Tate
The most recently released of the three, this one is recommended by Reese's book club. Christie Tate also studied law, so I think there's definitely a pattern emerging as to the types of stories I relate most to. She tells her hilarious, offbeat, and sometimes downright strange story of finding survival through group therapy.
I think Group resonates with me as, from the outside, Christie appears to have everything a law student works for - a high paying job with a top tier private firm, international work opportunities, and the fancy apartment and lifestyle that goes with those. Yet she fights an inner battle that only the members of her group come to know in uncomfortable detail. It's a refreshing perspective on growth and success.
“If you're serious about getting into intimate relationships - becoming a real person, as you said - you need to feel every feeling you've been stifling since you were a kid. The loneliness, the anxiety, the anger, the terror.”
I know these authors aren't exactly culturally diverse, though they're definitely my favourite because I relate so closely to them. Each of these authors have stories in some way similar to my own and they each tell their stories so beautifully and uniquely, so these three memoirs hit me with all the feels.
Of course, Becoming by Michelle Obama is coming up in my 'to read' list, but if you know of any other memoirs I should read leave them in the comments below or on my socials!
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