Synopsis
The House of My Mother
This is a memoir from the daughter of former family vlogger Ruby Franke. Ruby was the mastermind behind the Eight Passengers Youtube channel, and was recently convicted of child abuse towards her six children. This popular channel documented the goings-on within the Franke household, from the kids losing their first tooth to more sensitive, private topics like shaving for the first time and being disciplined. As a result of these hundreds of videos that were made public, Ruby has faced a lot of scrutiny for her often excessive and tyrannical parenting methods. This book looks past the shiny facade that was presented online, delving deeper into the truth of what it was like to be a passenger.
Review
What's so unique about this story is how much evidence from the legal trial was captured by Shari's mom Ruby, which she then immortalized through her act of constantly oversharing on the internet. There's a satisfying irony in that, and Shari picks up on it too. I think this book needed to be written, and the Franke children's stories needed to be brought to light. The creation of this novel had to be a very healing and therapeutic process for Shari, and I respect that. But with her being only twenty-one when the novel was published, it seemed that not enough time had elapsed between the traumatic experiences she described and present-day. More time needed to elapse before Shari could offer her fully-developed insights on the topic. Sure, this book is inspiring and the narrative voice is well-spoken, but with more time Shari could have explored these events more completely.