Review: Between Two Trailers: A Memoir by J. Dana Trent

 Dear Lit Loves,

Greetings!  Yes I know it's been a long hot minute since I posted a memoir review, but in my defense, I wait till a memoir is released that speaks to me personally before I ever buy it.  As in, there is something in that particular memoir that I can identify with, learn from, and for which I can empathize.  

Sometimes as a simple weed in a field of social media mass sunflowers, or in more forthright terms, as a non-traditionally published writer among big league memoir writers with ginormous social media followings, I feel like there is no literary agent who I will ever appeal to or a traditional publisher that will get behind any one of my manuscripts.  (And then I put some Joan Jett on the stereo and rock the hell out for an hour till I feel better).  Interestingly, while I was perusing Goodreads in early January of this year, I came upon a memoir giveaway written by a gal who teaches right here in North Carolina!  Shock!  Hold on, let me catch my breath here, Henry!  It is always so mind-blowing when this happens that you would almost think I was in the midst of a heart attack.  Bare with me here, folks!

I came upon a memoir by J. Dana Trent, a world religion and critical thinking professor at Wake Technical Community College living here in Raleigh, North Carolina.  I read the synopsis of the book which revealed that she was a preschooler when she began helping her schizophrenic father to cut up weed and fill small bags to sell while her mother suffers from personality disorders and extreme self-absorption.  Yet somehow Ms. Trent was able to make it through a traumatic life to get a divinity degree from Duke University.  I was intrigued.  Full Stop.  I had to read the book because this woman has got a story or stories that are about as unusual as my own.  Thankfully, Ms. Trent's book, Between Two Trailers:  A Memoir was picked up by a traditional publisher.  Hallelujah!  Someone from my neck of the woods finally broke through the steel doors of agents and publishers!!!  

Trent's dad, known as King and her mom, known as Lady met while they both worked in a mental health facility.  He was a recreational therapist and her mom was a psychiatric nurse.  As a child Ms. Trent grew up helping with her dad's drug operation while mom guarded the stash and the cash.  And to beat it all, a good portion of the story takes place in small town Dana, Indiana.  Her father is always on the move whether it involves his trade or imparting wisdom to Ms. Trent and her cousins on midnight bicycle rides through the town of  Dana, Indiana. 

And then right out of the blue one day, the Lady decides she and Dana are leaving Indiana and going to where she has family in Ocean Isle, North Carolina.  Little did Dana know that this was the beginning of the dissolution of her parents' marriage and the unthreading of her time and closeness with her dad. And somehow through sheer tenacity, Lady and Dana make it to an apartment in Chapel Hill where she and her mom attend weekly therapy sessions.  Her mom, Lady, also works briefly as a nurse in our local area. To me,  J. Dana Trent oftentimes felt like the adult in this family even when she was just a little girl trying to take care of herself.  And yet somehow even amidst this haphazard life, this young woman graduates from Salem College and then Duke Divinity School!  

To say this book is one wild ride would be an understatement.  On numerous occasions I was touched by how much fortitude J. Dana Trent displayed and even with mentally ill parents, she still tried to take care of them.  In this book you see how the drug trade took hold of places like Dana, Indiana or flyover country as she often calls it.  The reader most definitely sees mental illness in action through the behaviors and mannerisms of Ms. Trent's parents.  The toll anxiety can take on a person with a twisted life at home and the pressures of college is quite accurately displayed in this book as well.  

There are some real laugh out loud moments too particularly when Trent's father, King, starts laying down the rules of life to Dana and her cousins.  (Her dad reminded me of my grandfather....a real pistol!)  I was just simply amazed that this woman lived to tell her story.  And there might be hope for another outlier like me to one day tell my stories on a bigger stage as well.  

After reading a book like this, sometimes I just feel like if I could have lunch with this writer, I would ask her did she ever wonder why, aside from her uncle, cousins, and grandparents, no one else like a teacher or guidance counselor or social services never appeared to pick up on the tragedy that was occurring in her life?  Was she ever worried that she would develop severe mental illness given her mom and dad's diagnoses?  And finally, because I lost my last parent recently, how did going back to Dana, Indiana later in life give her a sense of healing?  Going back to my roots leaves me devastated like someone ripped off the copper stitches holding my chest together after open-heart surgery.

Simply, this is and was a must read book for me.  And I am so happy someone in publishing realized how valuable Ms. Trent's story is and took the time and effort to support Ms. Trent in revealing her story to the world.  This is a must read, five star book for me.

Till my next review,

Grace (Amy)