Heidi Ann Smith’s first novel, The Clara Ann Burns Story dares to go
where other stories of child abuse shrink and hide away. Smith uses a multidimensional prose including
a collection of short stories, poems; one-minute plays, hospital records, and photographs
to illustrate her story about Clara’s journey through physical and emotional
abuse.
Clara grew up in the 1960’s in the Chicago
suburbs during the years of the John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King
assassinations, supersonic jets, the Apollo missions and the Vietnam War. Those
were the days of a more simplistic life without computers, video games, cell
phones – back in the days of black and white television. While growing up in this era, Clara had an extremely
traumatic childhood. She had many health
issues at a young age, as being diagnosed with osteomyelitis, an infection of
the bone, as well as pneumonia twice by the age of six. Each time she was brought to the hospital in
a coma. Clara even had her Last Rites read to her twice; once when
she was five and again when she was seven years old, a memory she will never
forget.
Clara’s biological father died when she was still
a young girl. Shortly after the death of
her father, Clara, along with her mother and brother were in a head-on
collision. The man that caused the
accident was drunk and the attorney that took on the case became Clara’s
stepfather. He was very abusive to Clara
on every emotional and physical level, including sexual abuse. At one point the stepfather got Clara pregnant
and she had to have an abortion. The
only peace Clara found was to drink her problems away. Life just seemed to be one big punishment for
her. Clara didn’t understand why all of
this had happened to her.
Eventually Clara moved in with her boyfriend who
became very influential in helping her stop drinking and would encourage her to
attend the local A.A. meetings. Through
the strength of her 12 step program, Clara now has a happy, stable life. She has home-birthed and home-schooled five
children!
The Clara Ann Burns Story is a well-written
and powerful debut novelette that grips the reader immediately; showing the
devastating frustration of a young child being harshly abused. I found Heidi Ann Smith’s style of writing to
be realistic, and the images included in the book were a powerful and
believable way to portray this story. The
author points out, as many other sources state, that child abuse may very well be a
cycle, passed down from generation to generation. The child’s rage and pain of being abused
could, once becoming an adult, be turned on themselves or even the ones they
love.
The
ending, however, had a pleasant surprise.
The author showed how Clara is a living testament of resilience. The
Clara Ann Burns Story sends an inspirational message of strength of the
human spirit. A person has the ability to leave their dark past and look
forward to a better tomorrow. If Clara Ann Burns could do it, then anyone can!
