What began as a writing assignment for Jennie Miller Helderman
of a mere few thousand words, became a life altering episode within the private
lives of Ginger and Mike, two real people immersed within a vortex of emotional
and physical abuse. In her book, titled
in lower case, as the sycamore grows,
Helderman candidly and objectively brings to light the details of the lives of
others to the reader’s attention in a cold, brutally honest and real
format. She does not hold back on events
and thoughts, both private and disconcerting, and in doing such creates a
dichotomy of reading experiences; half of me felt like throwing the book out
the window in anger by the actions of Mike while the other half of
me couldn’t put the book down wondering just how Ginger will cope and get
through all of this.
To best explain the reality of Helderman’s writing, here’s
an excerpt I felt very emotionally charged when reading:
“If you don’t rein yourself in, I’m going to
slap you.” The smoke curled around his words. “I’m sure you will,” she said, chin out. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on Ginger as
if he were sighting a rifle. Five steps
it took to cross the room, fast, heavy steps. When he reached Ginger, he swung his arm down and smacked her jaw with
the full force of his open hand. A
man-blow that rocked her jaw.
She staggered backward against the couch,
her skull reverberating. Tears washed
down her cheeks, but she was too shocked to notice them. He’d never hit her before. No one had ever hit her. This pain was new. It took her breath.
Needless to
say I began trembling due to the realism while holding the book. The build up, and eventual therapy and resolution to this incident
beckons the reader to witness the events as Jeannie Miller Helderman humanizes
Ginger and Mike; at times demonizing their actions then equivocating to loving
emotions, poetry and kindness. A
juxtaposition of love and hate, real and surreal, Helderman honestly portrays
the obviously controlling actions and words of Mike. Love it or hate it, one thing is for sure,
you’ll never forget this story.
What struck me, a bit by surprise I might add, is following
the galley text of the book; Helderman has a series of actual photographs of Mike
and Ginger, along with the children Cody and Casey. Looking into the eyes of the devil, and
seeing the pretentious smiles masking the turbulence imprinted an indelible
image in my mind of deceit along with the complexity of dysfunctional behavior. Further inserts to her book incorporated
actual copies of legal restraining documents from the State of Tennessee, along
with affidavits written in their own handwriting.
Jennie
Helderman cleverly states in her book the Christian philosophy of staying with
your man and praying hard that the abuse will go away can actually be
counterproductive and create a more toxic relationship. I appreciated how forthcoming she was about sharing
some very intimate details about her life. I feel as the sycamore grows will definitely be a
catalyst to helping other people in the same position. I certainly recommend this to the reader that
is prepared for the journey, the real life story of real people caught in the whirlwind
of a heritage of abuse within their family tree. It takes strength and fortitude to grasp this
book and then a bold step to open it.
I would recommend as the sycamore grows
for anyone who is (or has been) in an abusive relationship. I would also strongly
advocate this book for anyone who counsels people that have been in abusive
relationships or have been accused of being abusive. This
book will be painful to read but absolutely necessary to get the victim on
the road to safety.
Buy this book at Amazon.com
