Babs is the chocolate heiress, too much
money, too little restraint and a penchant for hurting people. This
is not the kind of mother a sensitive child like Bettina needs to
help her mature. She treats Bettina like a small side-kick which
includes allowing her to attend inappropriate adult parties, and
tells her in explicit detail about her sex life. Babs often seems to
forget about her daughter, but when she turns her attention to the
child, it often ends up badly for Bettina. In one especially horrific
scene, Babs accuses Bettina of being a sneak because she's
surreptitiously drinking a soda in her bedroom. Purporting to look
for other evidences of Bettina's sly behavior, Babs strips her naked
and then proceeds to pull all her clothes from the closet and dump
them on the floor, but the most abusive act is destroying Bettina's
most prized possessions, a photo of Brooke Shields and a napkin she
touched.
Not everyone will enjoy this book. It
contains a lot of strong stuff from teenage drinking to explicit
sexual details. It is an upsetting and very sad book. I found the
most tragic part that Bettina loved her mother and wanted to be with
her, even if it meant being abused. Unfortunately too many abused
children react exactly this way trying to be perfect so the abusing
parent will pay attention to them.
I found the book well written, but
difficult to read. The details of these wealthy people's lives are
extremely ugly. The story proves that having money is no guarantee of
happiness. I can recommend this book only if you can take the
shocking details. However, it is a good study of child abuse in an
affluent setting where you wouldn't expect it, which only proves that
there are disturbed people at all social levels.
I reviewed this book for the Amazon Vine Program.
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