Mama's Curse by T.M.Morris

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Mama’s Curse by T.M. Morris



Full Disclosure: I know the author, T.M. Morris, personally. She has been a part of my life since I was a young girl and she is ingrained in my world as a mentor, friend and aunt. I am mentioned in the book and listed in the acknowledgements. My personal relationship with Morris has no standing on the review to follow.


                Within the pages of Mama’s Curse there are stories that needed to be told. It is the story of a young girl who watched her mother struggle to raise three children. It is the story of young woman finding herself while she watches her brothers’ struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. It is the story of a woman making her way in the Los Angeles Police Department. It is the story of a wife and mother working hard to balance her family and a career. This isn’t the story of one woman’s fight against cancer. It is the story of a life lived with love, courage and the strength to continue to endure even when faced with repeated bouts of adversity. Even when your body has turned against you. Though written by Morris this isn’t the story of one woman, but many women who have and will encounter that same adversity.

                Let me start off by saying that this memoir was really well done. It is concise and powerful. Morris starts with her day to day life around the time she was diagnosed with cancer then send readers back in time to 1907 and the life of her own grandmother. There she explores her family’s history and the world that existed before Morris was even thought of. This was life in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1907 and these are the events that led to Carmen falling for Paul and having three children, the second of which would be Tia, the author and narrator. From there Morris continues to bring readers through the years of her life and back to the pivotal moment in the hospital as she learns that she, like her mother and other women in her family, have cancer.

                Racism, sexism, and misogyny in the police force; drug abuse, domestic violence and alcoholism; family, legacy, parenting and cancer are all issues discussed in Mama’s Curse. Over a hundred years of history in less than 400 pages and every single character lives through the voice of Morris. They live through her recollections and the stories she tells. Morris managed to infuse humor, passion, frustration and love throughout these pages all while developing the different characters and recreating the world as she knows it. Her honesty and no nonsense tone make her a force to be reckoned with. I really enjoyed getting lost in these pages. This is well told, well written, heartfelt and easy to recommend. This is her story and it so easy to relate to and recognize those characters that we all seem to have in our lives. I give Mama’s Curse 4 out of 5 stars. 

Mama's Curse by T.M. Morris

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