Her Last Death (Pgs 215-273)

Summary

Susy was settled in Montana with her husband Christopher. She is 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant with his child after aborting the first. This experience motivated her to become an abortion councilor at a new clinic reopening to support women and young women who are going through this process so that they wont feel lonely . As she spent more time bonding with her mother, she realized that her mother spent money so easily because her grandmother sent checks to pay for rent and phone bills. During her pregnancy her mother took her shopping for all of the things she wanted for her unborn baby. The Saturday before Thanksgiving Susy went into labor for 57 hours, she had a baby boy and named him Daniel. A short period after she had a second child, Jack. As she went on with her life she realized that she questioned every aspect of her past because she had been lied to so often. The story ends as she reconnects with family in New York; her sister, her father and stepmother.

Quote

"This is what I'll tell my sons, when they ask, when I tell them about our abortion: We made a decision to be better parents, and that was what it took. Nothing yet in our lives had given us to understand the sacrifice of love, the efforts of parenthood, the heart flung open with generosity. The abortion was our preface, the beginning of who you would need and who you would know (Sonnenberg 231)"

Reaction

In this quote it is shown that Susy is making well planned out and informative decisions. She is no longer making decisions off of her first instinct or to satisfy her addiction. She has grown as a person because she was able to make beneficial decisions for herself. Some examples of the decisions were to stop her addiction, being faithful to her husband and deciding the right to time to have a child.

Her Last Death (Pgs 165-215)

Summary
Susy shows more charateristics similar to those of her moms as the story develops. She has been with 8 guys so far. She got engaged in New York to Noah, he was always at the club gambling. They had moved together to a 2-bedroom apartment. One morning Susy got a call to let her know about Dr.Crawford's death from cancer a couple of weeks after he had been diagnosed. Soon, Susy and Noah broke the engagement due to their adictions. She got a job at a movie producing development and moved to LA. In a short period of time she got fired and decided to move back to New York and then to Provincetown.
Quote
"Heat rushed up my neck. I should have warned him, and I hadn't, hadn't gotten yet to that part of my life and the way my mother played her role (pg 178)"
Reaction
In this part of the plot it was when her mother, Gordon and Susy were at dinner. Gordon had met her for the first time and she was stoned. This quote explains how embarrassed she felt as he was not aware about her addiction and behavior. In a way it shows that now that she is growing up, her mom , her addiction and behavior was a separate part of her life that she didn't really want anyone to know about. She wanted privacy away from her mother and "that life".

Her Last Death (Pgs 110-165)

Summary
In these next chapters of Susanna Sonnenberg's memoir, the relationship between her and her mother developed both in a good way and bad. Susy had moved into her boarding school and she had a crush on her teacher Mr.Crawford. This crush developed into more than was appropriate for a 16 year old girl, it was the first event that she had kept from her mother which started showing the change in how much trust she had in her mother. She eventually told her mother after Mr.Crawford ended up admitting to his wife about the affair. One day when her mother went to visit her while she was at the boarding school her mother took her dormmate to get birthcontrol and later that week told Amy's parents about it. This caused Susy to loose her friendship with Amy. Her father was on a wheel chair, he was diagnosed with MS and was predicted to die and had only about a year to live.
Quote
"I wanted something to happen to her. Something to happen to me. Make her sorry. Make hers cared.(page 132)"
Reaction
This quote describes how Susy was feeling which was different from before. Coke was really beginning to change and shape the relationship they had because it would make her mother react differently. While they were in Mexico during Spring break her mom had taken a hit of coke and ended up kicking Susy out of their hotel room which changed the way Susy was thinking.

Her Last Death ( Pages 58 - 110 )

Summary

In Her Last Death, Susy's mom thought that it would be beneficial to her to move to New Mexico after she had her surgery. Susy on the other hand decided to stay with her friend Marly and her parents in order for her to finish up the 7th grade. Soon enough she felt that Marly's parents didn't care about her "thought and feelings" like her mother did so she moved to New Mexico. She had gotten a job at the theatre with Penelope (her sister) because her mom was dating the owner of the theater. In September they returned to New York for Susy to graduate from the eighth grade. Susy was accepted to her second choice of boarding school; Praise Connecticut. She attended there where she had her first kiss and boyfriend who was a senior. She then decided to transfer to a smaller boarding school in Colorado for the following year. While she was in Pennsylvania her mother was in the hospital and had almost died due to septicemia. She spent her 16th birthday at a bar with her mother. After more of the hate is shown because her mother had slept with the drummer from the band that she has a crush on. Her mother's drug addiction and her sleeping with a lot of guys has really gotten between their relationship.

Quote

"My Mother, yeah, she does drugs, but she's not always like that. She's very beautiful. She went out with Clint Eastwood. ( Sonnenberg, 105 )"

Reaction

This quote here shows a lot about Susy's opinion about her mother. Although her mother had a lot of bad habits she still looked up to her mother. She had a way of looking at all the negative things in a positive way which showed the narration of the story is told in Dual Narrative voice. This is how she described her mother to Mr. Cutler who was surprised in how much she knew for only being fifteen.

Her Last Death Pages 1-58

Summary
In the exposition of the story the author states that she is at the age of 37 years old after explaining that her mother has falling into a comma. Later just like every other time she learns that it is a lie. She has grown up and apart from her mother. She now has two kids and sometimes wonders whether or not it was a mistake to keep her kids away from their grandmother. At the age of three and a half her parents got a divorce. The years passed and her little sister Penelope grew up, it seemed as if they lived in two different households because they had different experiences. Penelope didn't see when her mother used pills and injection to relieve her pain. She also didn't see when her mother went into spasms due to the large amounts of medication. She seen a different side than Susy, Susy was older and was able to understand that her little sister should not see this side of their mother.
Quote
"'Lying makes face between two people. It makes me stupid, and we can't have a real relationship " ( Sonnenberg 9)
Reaction
The story is told by first person and it begins right in the middle of action. It then reflects back to introduce all of the characters and to give some background information. This is a quote said by Susy after she confronts her mother about discovering her lie about having cancer. She expresses through this quote that she cannot attempt in having a good relationship with her mother if she continued lying. It introduces the conflict between the protagonist and her mother.