There are no rainbows and unicorns in these pages, and I do believe this is one of the most depressing books I've ever read. But I couldn't put it down. Each chapter deals with each of Hattie's children at a specific point in their lives, and I kept reading and hoping for something positive to happen. It never did. 
 Hattie was one of those mothers who had a difficult time expressing love in a way that let her children know she loved them. This quote from the book sums up her tough love approach: They didn't understand that all the love she had was taken up with feeding them and clothing them and preparing them to meet the world. The world would not love them; the world would not be kind. 
 The story covers decades, from the time she's a teenaged mother until she became a grandmother. At the every end, with her grandchild, there's a glimmer of hope that maybe--just maybe--Hattie will learn to show love in a different way, and by doing so she'll be able to save that last child from the unhappiness her other children experienced.