Introduction

“Andrea Leeb’s powerful memoir, Such a Pretty Picture, is an immensely compelling, tender, honest, and ultimately courageous reckoning with abuse, betrayal, and the false promises of new starts.”—Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Kansas Poet Laureate Emeritus, and author of The Magic Eye: A Memoir of Saving a Life and Place in the Age of Anxiety

For readers of I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, a candid and heart-wrenching memoir about child abuse, family secrets, and the healing that begins once the truth is revealed and the past is confronted. Andrea is four and a half the first time her father, David, gives her a bath. Although she is young, she knows there is something strange about the way he is touching her. When her mother, Marlene, walks in to check on them, she howls and crumples to the floor—and when she opens her eyes, she is blind. Marlene’s hysterical blindness lasts for weeks, but her willful blindness lasts decades. The abuse continues, and Andrea spends a childhood living with a secret she can’t tell and a shame she is too afraid to name. Despite it, she survives. She builds a life and tells herself she is fine. But at age thirty-three, an unwanted grope on a New York City subway triggers her past. Suddenly unable to remember how to forget, Andrea is forced to confront her past—and finally begin to heal. This brave debut offers honest insight into a survivor’s journey. Readers will feel Andrea’s pain, her fear, and her shame—yet they will also feel her hope. And like Andrea, they will come to understand an important truth: though healing is complicated, it is possible to find joy and even grace in the wake of the most profound betrayals.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1

It began the first time my father gave me a bath. That night, a Saturday in late September 1962, my parents had plans to meet friends for dinner in Manhattan. “A date,” my mother said, even though they were already married. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. The first story Leeb tells of her childhood is that of her father sexually abusing her in the bathroom. Although Andrea is only four-and-a-half she knows there is something strange about the way her father is touching her. When her mother walks into the bathroom check on them, she hollows and crumples to the floor—when she opens her eyes, she is blind. Why do you think Andrea opens with that story, and how does it set the stage for the rest of the memoir?

2. In her book, Andrea tells us that her sister Sarai was not sexually abused by her father. “I’d convinced myself that, like a twist on the story Demeter and Persphone, my mother had surrendered one daughter to Hades in exchange for another?” How did it make you feel to see her mother protecting one daughter but not the other?

3. Marlene often tells her daughter’s that "Your father loves you?” Do you think that she believed that when she said it? Did you?

4. There are many heart wrenching scenes in Such A Pretty Picture. Aside from the bath scene which scene touched you the most and why?

5. Andrea’s writing style is economical, never overly dramatic and at times almost clinical. She has stated that given the inherent drama in the subject matter she chose to make the language as economical and accessible to the reader as possible. Did she achieve that goal?

6. Reviewers have noted that Such A Pretty Picture is both literary and novelistic. Do you agree with that characterization? Do you think the novelistic style works?

7. Discuss what you think of Marlene? What were her strengths and weaknesses? Do you think her failure to protect her daughters was as bad or worse than David’s abuse?


8. In interviews and podcasts, Andrea says that inspired to tell her after reading the stories that other sexual assault survivors wrote during the #MeTooMovement. She has said that it is her greatest hope that her memoir will help other survivors to tell their stories and to know that with therapy healing is possible. Do you think that she achieved that goal? Why or why not?

9. Andrea dedicates the book to her sister, Sarai. Describe Andrea’s relationship with Sarai, and the role that these girls played in each other’s lives?

10. The memoir begins with a child point of view and shifts to a teenager then to a young woman and finally ending when Andrea is thirty-three.? How would you describe the shift in the narrator’s tone?

11. Throughout the book and Andrea’s childhood there were other adults (teachers, psychiatrists) who saw that Andrea was suffering but did not intervene. This was in the 1960’s and 1970’s, do you think things are different today? How and why?

12. Were you surprised to learn that, as an adult, Andrea chose to keep Marlene, and by default her father in her life? What do you think of this decision and why do you think she made it?

13. Andrea finally gets help after an incident on a New York City subway. She goes to therapy and then to a twelve-day inpatient rehab. While in the inpatient program she develops a close relationship with another patient-a man named Bob. What did you think of their friendship? Were you disappointed to learn that they never saw each other again?

14. Many reviewers and readers have commented that despite everything Andrea is nonjudgmental about her parents—especially her mother. Did you find this to be true? Reading this book were you able to be equally nonjudgmental?

Weblinks

»	Publisher's book info
»	Author's website
»	Review from Los Angeles book review
»	Review from Seattle book review
»	Daily mail article

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