Reviewed by Christian Sia for Readers' Favorite

In Such a Pretty Picture, Andrea Leeb recounts her traumatic childhood filled with unsettling family dynamics, sexual abuse, and the struggle for identity. The memoir explores the relationship between Andrea, her mother Marlene, and her father David, which unravels against secrets and manipulation. The narration begins in the early 1960s, vividly detailing the impact of a traumatic incident that leaves Andrea living with guilt, fear, and confusion. She lived with the guilt and suppressed the memory of the abuse from her childhood until, at thirty-three, an indecent groping incident on a New York City subway forces her to confront her trauma. This book documents her harrowing journey toward healing. The narrative captures how these early experiences shaped Andrea’s perceptions of love and safety, delivering an exploration of the lingering effects of childhood trauma.

Andrea Leeb’s memoir is punctuated by dark humor and irony, as seen through her youthful misinterpretations of her circumstances and her mother's frantic attempts to portray a picture-perfect family despite their dysfunction. The author writes about family loyalty versus self-preservation as she and her sister navigate their father's volatility and their mother's enabling behavior differently. The setting, primarily revolving around their New York apartment and later Florida, amplifies feelings of isolation and foreboding, contrasting with the colorful recollections of childhood joy that Andrea desperately clings to. The memoir delivers a raw and unsettling narrative that forces readers to think about the consequences of abuse, parental love, and the struggle for self-identity. Such a Pretty Picture asks the question: Can one truly heal from childhood trauma? The author answers this question by sharing her story with utter honesty and delivering the wisdom she learned through the process. I was impressed by the confident writing and the author’s ability to write about disturbing episodes of her life.