In this extraordinary true story, parapsychology expert Nancy Lee Canfield reveals how her early years shaped and prepared her for a lifetime of studying the paranormal. A Rose for My Mother chronicles Canfield's turbulent childhood in and out of foster homes and orphanages before the age of thirteen, her early marriage at seventeen, and her awakening to paranormal phenomena. A Rose for My Mother is an intriguing blend of memoir and the study of parapsychology. Taken from the back of the book
OK See what I've just copied from the back of the book? Read it, and then forget it! I'm not saying it's not all true, but...well it just doesn't fit as correctly as it probably should. Alright, alright! For me! It just doesn't fit as correctly as it probably should for me! I did get the paranormal parts of the story, although it wasn't as predominant as I thought it would be. Yes, I suppose you could say this is a memoir of sorts. I will, however, agree that this is an extraordinary true story.
Nancy starts out by letting us know that she obviously can't recall every single detail of what has occurred, so she's done some research to make it as true to life as possible. Yay! We all have memories from our childhood, but we all also have faulty memories that make us remember things being a specific way when, in reality, that was only our perspective of it. OK...marching on!
For me, there were two major points of interest regarding this book. The first is that I had such a sense of deja vu while reading and the second that I didn't find out the point of the title of the book until the end. Every so often, I would read an excerpt from Nancy's life and think to myself 'I've read this before...but where?' or 'That reminds me of something..but what?' Even now I still have that feeling of deja vu, as if I'd read this book before and remembered parts of it, but that's just not possible. Now, knowing that this book has a paranormal element to it, you may be asking yourself if I'm just saying that so that it'll seem to fit in better with the book. NOPE! If you've read any of my other reviews then you know I'm honest to a fault in my reviews, even if it comes across harshly sometimes. I'm honestly not sure why I had that feeling, but I've found it entertaining and enjoyed it. As for the title of the book, there's a key happening in the book. Well, that doesn't really help either...and I can't go into it without giving a spoiler. I'll explain it in a different manner. The title isn't really about a rose or Nancy's mother, at least not by my understanding. It symbolizes Nancy's realization that things are not always as they seem or how we remember them and that there's beauty even in the most dire of circumstances.
I strongly suggest this book for anyone who enjoys memoirs, drama, or just wants a fascinating read. If you're picking it up for the paranormal aspect, you'll find it, but if that's all you're looking for, you may be disappointed. There's so much more to this book that you'd have to cut away huge chunks of it to peel it back just to the paranormal parts.
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