Thrifty Bibliophile

For this throwback Thursday, I’m picking a memorable book that starts with the letter ‘T’.

This week I’m picking Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso. I read this memoir back in 2011. It’s a chilling memoir that covers the tough topic of sexual abuse. Obviously this book isn’t for everyone and is one big trigger warning for people who have been abused. That said, if you enjoy memoirs, this one is worth the read.

Description (From Goodreads):
This extraordinary memoir is an unprecedented glimpse into the psyche of a young girl in free fall and conveys to readers – including parents and survivors of abuse – just how completely a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him.

One summer day, Margaux Fragoso meets Peter Curran at the neighborhood swimming pool, and they begin to play. She is seven; he is fifty-one. When Peter invites her and her mother to his house, the little girl finds a child’s paradise of exotic pets and an elaborate backyard garden. Her mother, beset by mental illness and overwhelmed by caring for Margaux, is grateful for the attention Peter lavishes on her, and he creates an imaginative universe for her, much as Lewis Carroll did for his real-life Alice.

In time, he insidiously takes on the role of Margaux’s playmate, father, and lover. Charming and manipulative, Peter burrows into every aspect of Margaux’s life and transforms her from a child fizzing with imagination and affection into a brainwashed young woman on the verge of suicide. But when she is twenty-two, it is Peter – ill, and wracked with guilt – who kills himself, at the age of sixty-six.

Told with lyricism, depth, and mesmerizing clarity, Tiger, Tiger vividly illustrates the healing power of memory and disclosure. This extraordinary memoir is an unprecedented glimpse into the psyche of a young girl in free fall and conveys to readers – including parents and survivors of abuse – just how completely a pedophile enchants his victim and binds her to him.

Let’s Talk!

Have you read Tiger, Tiger? What did you think of it? What’s the last memoir you read?

Follow me:
Twitter – @thriftybiblio
Facebook – /thriftybibliophile
WordPress – /thriftybibliophile
Instagram – /thriftybibliophile
Goodreads – /thriftybibliophile
Bloglovin’ – /thriftybibliophile