Hazard
A Sister's Flight from Family and a Broken Boy
Nonfiction, Family & Relationships, Biography & Memoir
| Author: | Margaret Combs | ISBN: | 9781510715325 |
| Publisher: | Skyhorse Publishing | Publication: | March 21, 2017 |
| Imprint: | Skyhorse Publishing | Language: | English |
| Author: | Margaret Combs |
| ISBN: | 9781510715325 |
| Publisher: | Skyhorse Publishing |
| Publication: | March 21, 2017 |
| Imprint: | Skyhorse Publishing |
| Language: | English |
“A touching, highly poignant portrait” of love, family, and a woman’s journey of growing up with a severely autistic sibling (Kirkus Reviews).
Growing up, Margaret Combs knew her brother was different from everyone else. His behavior was erratic, noisy, and sometimes self-harming. In the 1950s, autism was rarely discussed, and only spoken of with quiet shame. But Margaret loved her brother Roddy even as she resented him. Defending him from bullies, she tried to balance her desire to help him with the pursuit of her own dreams.
It was this heartfelt conflict that drove Margaret to succeed in order to make up for her family’s sorrow. And it was also what made her ultimately flee her family in search of what she hoped was a “normal” life as a wife and mother. When she and Roddy were reunited years later, the tenuous connection they once had was frayed—but it was soon strengthened with a renewed love and affection borne from Margaret’s own emotional and psychological growth.
Hazard is an “achingly honest, courageous memoir” of an indelible bonds between siblings: the one between Combs and her sister, and the deep and remorseful one she has with her disabled brother. It is a story of their friendship, and how fervently she wanted to make him whole (Holly Robinson, author of Beach Plum Island, Folly Cove).
“A touching, highly poignant portrait” of love, family, and a woman’s journey of growing up with a severely autistic sibling (Kirkus Reviews).
Growing up, Margaret Combs knew her brother was different from everyone else. His behavior was erratic, noisy, and sometimes self-harming. In the 1950s, autism was rarely discussed, and only spoken of with quiet shame. But Margaret loved her brother Roddy even as she resented him. Defending him from bullies, she tried to balance her desire to help him with the pursuit of her own dreams.
It was this heartfelt conflict that drove Margaret to succeed in order to make up for her family’s sorrow. And it was also what made her ultimately flee her family in search of what she hoped was a “normal” life as a wife and mother. When she and Roddy were reunited years later, the tenuous connection they once had was frayed—but it was soon strengthened with a renewed love and affection borne from Margaret’s own emotional and psychological growth.
Hazard is an “achingly honest, courageous memoir” of an indelible bonds between siblings: the one between Combs and her sister, and the deep and remorseful one she has with her disabled brother. It is a story of their friendship, and how fervently she wanted to make him whole (Holly Robinson, author of Beach Plum Island, Folly Cove).
