Memphis Reads Archive

Nonfiction/Memoir

Andrea King reviews CRAZY LOVE: A Memoir by Leslie Morgan Steiner (St. Martin’s Press, 2009)

This is a story about a successful, 22-year-old woman who seemed like she had everything going for her. Working at Seventeen magazine and living in downtown New York City after graduating from Harvard, Leslie had the world at her feet. Meeting the attractive and funny Conor was the proverbial “cherry on top.”

Unfortunately, Leslie had a secret. A secret that millions of others shared with her.

Conor, although he seemed to adore Leslie outwardly, was beating her regularly. Leslie always had excuses for his behavior and a simple reason for putting up with his violence: she loved him. Don’t scoff- in our society many battered women feel this way.

Fortunately, Leslie got to the point where she had enough. After Conor relocated them time and time again to keep her isolated from friends and family so he could keep her “all to himself,” Leslie realized she had to get away from him. She concluded that the strength and power to escape Conor was within her. Not to spoil the ending but I am pleased to report Leslie did escape Conor and is now living out the fairy tale with her second husband and children.

This is a harsh, unsettling memoir that tells the first person account of a relationship that went from a fairy tale to its most extreme opposite. It is also a story of hope and having a second chance in life. Most importantly, the author shows readers how to live after just surviving. This to me is the most important lesson of all.


Andrea King,
Poplar-White Station Branch Library

Labels: Memoir, Nonfiction, Reviews by Andrea King