Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
Talie Ingram finds her great-great-grandmother's journal written in the 1800s. Initially fascinated by her find, she begins to read the entries until she comes across an item that frightens her. She realizes what her ancestor called "feeble-minded" that ran in the family is actually a genetic disorder.
Overwhelmed and frightened that she, her daughter and her sisters might have Fragile X Syndrome, she wants to throw away the ledger without finishing it. However, for the sake of her child and to inform her sister in an intelligent manner, she must find courage to learn more from the journal and other sources including God.
This is a deep family drama that focuses on Fragile X Syndrome and its impact on people. This reviewer never heard of this particular genetic condition until Maureen Lang's powerful character study that grips the audience from the moment that Talie begins to understand her family Victorian Era history and its implications today. Empathy will go out to her as she struggles with accepting a terrifying prognosis that her son has this condition while wondering why God allows bad things to happen to good people. Extremely deep and haunting, Ms. Lang provides a tale from her soul to ours.