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About
Mem is a wailer, a professional mourner hired to cry at funerals. One of the few remaining American girls in this secret, illegal profession, Mem hails from a long line of mourners, including her mother, a legendary master wailer hired for the most important funerals in her hometown of Philadelphia.
Though Mem is eventually to become a renowned wailer herself, she at first struggles with her calling. She is a girl who cannot make herself cry, and though her mother loves her fiercely, she must use ancient, emotionally abusive, cult like rituals to train Mem to weep. When Mem emerges as the greatest wailer that the profession has ever seen, her infamy brings with it unwanted attention, especially from the authorities.
Interweaving poetic prose and artifacts spanning six thousand years and seven continents, Open Me is an utterly original novel about mothers and daughters, dark underworlds, and the play between fact and fiction. An award-winning poet, essayist, and educator, Sunshine O'Donnell teaches experiential workshops in creative writing, visual art, and quantum physics to children in poverty-stricken schools and youth residential facilities throughout Pennsylvania. O'Donnell lives in the Germantown section of Philadelphia with her husband. Open Me is her first novel.
Though Mem is eventually to become a renowned wailer herself, she at first struggles with her calling. She is a girl who cannot make herself cry, and though her mother loves her fiercely, she must use ancient, emotionally abusive, cult like rituals to train Mem to weep. When Mem emerges as the greatest wailer that the profession has ever seen, her infamy brings with it unwanted attention, especially from the authorities.
Interweaving poetic prose and artifacts spanning six thousand years and seven continents, Open Me is an utterly original novel about mothers and daughters, dark underworlds, and the play between fact and fiction. An award-winning poet, essayist, and educator, Sunshine O'Donnell teaches experiential workshops in creative writing, visual art, and quantum physics to children in poverty-stricken schools and youth residential facilities throughout Pennsylvania. O'Donnell lives in the Germantown section of Philadelphia with her husband. Open Me is her first novel.