And Now I Spill the Family Secrets, Margaret Kimball
And Now I Spill the Family Secrets, Margaret Kimball
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And Now I Spill the Family Secrets
A Memoir

Author: Margaret Kimball

Narrator: Eileen Stevens

Unabridged: 3 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 04/20/2021

Synopsis

In the spirit of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Margaret Kimball’s AND NOW I SPILL THE FAMILY SECRETS begins in the aftermath of a tragedy. In 1988, when Kimball is only four years old, her mother attempts suicide on Mother’s Day—and this becomes one of many things Kimball’s family never speaks about. As she searches for answers nearly thirty years later, Kimball embarks on a thrilling journey into the secrets her family has kept for decades. Using old diary entries, hospital records, home videos, and other archives, Margaret pieces together a narrative map of her childhood—her mother’s bipolar disorder, her grandmother’s institutionalization, and her brother’s increasing struggles—in an attempt to understand what no one likes to talk about: the fractures in her family. Both a coming-of-age story about family dysfunction and a reflection on mental health, AND NOW I SPILL THE FAMILY SECRETS is funny, poignant, and deeply inspiring in its portrayal of what drives a family apart and what keeps them together.

About Margaret Kimball

Margaret Kimball is an illustrator and writer whose graphic essays have appeared in Ecotone, Black Warrior Review, Copper Nickel, DIAGRAM, and other outlets. Her work has been listed as Notable in Best American Comics and she's been in residence at both Yaddo and MacDowell artists’ colonies. Her illustrations have appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Bravery, the Boston Globe, and many major publications. She lives with her family in Indianapolis.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rod on August 07, 2021

The book opens with a suicide attempt by the author's mother in the 1980s then ranges back and forth through the decades exploring the history of mental illness and divorce in her family tree. While I felt sort of bad for everyone involved, I didn't really connect with the material due to the format......more

Goodreads review by Kirsti on July 14, 2021

This is one of the only memoirs, illustrated or not, that I have ever read in which the memoirist really tries to understand a sibling's thoughts and motivations. To me, the standout chapter is "The Interview," even though it's the least interesting chapter visually. In most of the book, Kimball is......more

Goodreads review by Kailyn on August 11, 2021

The book lost its grip on me about halfway through, and by the end I felt pretty "meh" about the whole thing. I feel like the book lost its intended purpose, of which I'm still confused about. The choice of illustrations was interesting at first, but made the book kind of dry. The lack of conclusion......more

Goodreads review by Alissa on April 28, 2021

Memoir writing is such an interesting and personal thing. It is both a story for the reader to consume, and also a way for the narrator to work out the complexities of their own life's story. I was drawn to this story due to the mental health and family matters that permeate Kimball's life story. My......more

Goodreads review by Erin on April 28, 2021

The cover alone grabbed me. This graphic novel memoir was twisty and compelling from the get go. Told through the eyes of the middle daughter, Margaret tries to uncover the family secrets and history that was hidden intentionally and unintentionally. The mental illness and suicide attempts didn't ha......more

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