Imperfect Endings by Zoe Fitzgerald Carter

My first thought when I started reading Imperfect Endings was that it was going to be a depressing story about a selfish woman who planned to end her life, and her loving daughter who was dragged into her mother's complicated life. How wrong I was! It was really about the struggle of a daughter, and the suffering of a mother with their fair share of setbacks. The tension slowly faded when Carter distributed generous intervals of humour in between and at serious points of the memoir. I began to unearth and piece together the messages that were scattered throughout the book. Certain events immediately jumped out at me while others took a bit longer for me to make connection with but I finally got the gist of it. Carter addressed relevant issues that we face everyday, the individuality of humans, and learning to accept that which we cannot change.

Many people seek the approval of others even when those people hurt them. There is no use denying that we would sometimes go the extra mile if we knew it meant getting accepted into society. It seems like our generations has been so caught up in trying to impress others that we have forgotten who takes first priority – us. The relationships we have others can determine what we want and do not want others to see us as, perhaps, for fear of being judged. In Imperfect Endings Carter talks about her past as the 'good daughter' and her mother's desire for her to be thin. However, the role of the good daughter did not bring as great pride as you may assumed; it was the source of conflict between her sisters because she did not want to have to pick between the two of them. Zoe grew older and her mother started to complain about her weight. On a flight back home from visiting her mother she th...

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...hat your mother wanted to drag her into the mess. She mentioned that she believes it should be legal to commit assisted suicide but the real reason she didn't want her mother to do it was that she felt she still needed her parent. However, Zoe eventually came around and left a voice mail on her mother's home phone, “...I wanted you to know that I think you should feel free to do what it is that you need to do and I feel ready to, well...let go. And you should know that.” (Carter, 173).

Imperfect Endings wasn't just a memoir; it was like a book of life lessons. It shed light on a situation I was somewhat aware of in an entertaining way. I would definitely recommend this book to those who like memoirs, non-fiction, or books with dynamic characters. I have come to realize that there is more to some books than what meets the eye. Imperfect Endings is a prime example.