Women We Buried, Women We Burned

Synopsis: Rachel Louise Snyder is an author, and journalist. You might be familiar with her through her work on NPR, or books such as No Visible Bruises. Her focus in this book is her own traumatic childhood and chaotic trajectory to adulthood. We first meet Rachel at the age of eight when her mother sadly dies of breast cancer. Her father’s reaction to this terrible loss is to remarry, become an evangelical Christian and uproot the family to the mid-west. Rachel’s reaction to this is ….. not great. She rebels at home, she rebels at school, and eventually gets kicked out of both. Somehow, she manages to get through it all.

Review: “Cancer took my mother. But religion would take my life.” There is just so much going on here! Fortunately, Snyder is an amazing writer with the ability to share her story in all it’s complicated glory. It surprised me that, in spite of what I would describe as abuse disguised as religion, Rachel was not estranged from her father. They were able to continue to have some kind of relationship, even while she spent years couch surfing and living out of her car. There is a tacit acknowledgement that, while this is HER version of events, her father might have a different perspective. Ultimately she went to college, became a journalist, and has traveled the world reporting on women’s issues. This memoir reminded me quite a bit of Educated by Tara Westover. Similar to that, I found it horrifying to think of her childhood, but inspired by her ability to forgive and forge new relationships with her father and siblings.

Rating: 4/5

Recipe: One of Rachel’s first jobs was bussing tables at a local Mexican restaurant, El Dorado. She notes with pragmatism that this was an ideal job for a homeless teenager, because at least she got fed. Other than that, dinner might be Campbell’s mushroom soup straight from the can, and we surely do not want that, so Mexican it is! This recipe for shrimp tacos is from the Food Network. In a pinch, you can also substitute crunchy fish sticks and make it a fish taco instead.

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1-1.5 teaspoons Sriracha

2 limes, 1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges

1/2 teaspoon sugar

3/4 cup fresh cilantro

3/4 pound medium shrimpt, peeled, deveined and halaved crosswise

one 14 ounce package coleslaw mix

1 mango, peeled ad sliced into thin strips

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

kosher salt

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

12 hard taco shells

1) Finely mince 1/4 cup cilantro, and mix with mayonnaise, Sriracha, lime juice, sugar and 1 tablespoon water.

2) Place the shrimp in a bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the dressing and set aside

3) roughly chop the remainder of the cilantro, toss with coleslaw mix, mango, red onion and the remainder of the dressing. Season with salt.

4) Heat the vegetable oil in a large non stick skillet and saute the shrimp over medium high heat, about 3 minutes.

5). Heat the taco shells. Serve with the shrimp and slaw, and additional lime wedges.