My Review:

Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me is a story of a mother’s love, what not to do, and the long journey to recover from the damage done.

Rennie’s mom, Malabar, and her second husband Charles spent a lot of time with friends George and Lily up at the Cape.  After Charles’s stroke, he wasn’t as active, but his longtime friend George was loyal and he and his ailing wife, Lily were a fine match for the couple.  The four of them had many fun times drinking and eating and had come up with a fun project to create a cookbook together.

It all started one night when Malabar came in to her young daughter, Remmie’s bedroom, and woke her to tell her that George, Charles’s friend, had kissed her.  Confiding in her daughter felt right, and Remmie was thrilled to be a part of her mother’s big secret and source of joy.  But as things progressed, and George and Malabar began to develop a relationship they chose to nurture without their respective spouses knowing, Remmie became a part of the deceit.  She provided alibis, excuses and helped to create opportunity for the cheating couple, and her lies forced her to put her own life on hold in order to help her mother.

A shocking memoir,  I found it hard to believe this is a true story, and I couldn’t help but feel anger toward the mother.  A mother is someone who protects a child, and hopefully raises him or her with love and affection.  Yet, it is possible to be loving, and also cause damage.  In Wild Game, author Adrienne Brodeur shares with us the web of lies her mother trapped her in early on when she was just a child.  This mother – daughter bond was so strong, it prevented a positive path toward confidence, self esteem and personal success for Adrienne during those formative years of childhood through young adulthood.  She made some questionable decisions while trying to separate herself from her mother but created the opportunity to live her own life.

“Whatever pent-up teenage energy had been thwarted in me because of my role in my mother’s affair was now rushing the gate. At last I was the one experimenting with sex, drugs, and adventures. I was the one having the time of my life.”

I was drawn in to Wild Game; Adrienne Brodeur’s story is incredible, mesmerizing and upsetting, and she courageously shares her unusual journey.  With reflection and a deeper sense of understanding it seems as if the author has been able to heal.

Goodreads Summary

About the Author

Adrienne Brodeur began her career in publishing as the cofounder, with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, of the National Magazine Award–winning Zoetrope: All-Story. She has worked as a book editor and is currently the executive director of Aspen Words.