Terri Brown-Davidson is a masterful writer. The crux of the narrative of “Marie, Marie, Hold On Tight” hinges on the uncompromising and out of control relationship between a mother and daughter. The potential darkness of mother love is brought to a whole new level by Marie’s mother–we fear her, we despise her and yet we yearn for her and love her in the same way Marie does. The book delivers a hopefulness one can only feel when a young girl learns that her survival is not only inevitable but necessary.

I believe a story as dark and challenging as “Marie, Marie, Hold On Tight” is one we don’t often get to see in today’s marketplace. As I read I was reminded of another unflinching masterpiece, Tillie Olsen‘s “Yonnondio: From the Thirties” and I was grateful that Terri Brown-Davidson was brave enough to write with such clarity of vision.