Frozen dinners : a memoir of a fractured family /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

After World War II, the United States innovated and evolved economically in order to rebuild itself, which resulted in great success in new or growing industries. As most families began to enjoy the new pastime of evening television, one of these new industries to emerge was that of the frozen TV dinner. A father and farmer from Wendell, Idaho had the audacity and vision to start his own trucking business and take hold of the opportunity this new product provided, aiming to grow his wealth with the Montana Express - frozen dinner delivery across the 50 states.Elaine Ambrose details the life she led as this man's daughter, and the struggles her family undertook as they broke apart under the strain of an absent father, and the high tensions and familial rivalries that arose after his untimely death. She hopes to offer hope and inspiration to others who have a marred childhood and contaminated family story, that anyone may grow beyond these painful memories and find success, happiness, and warmth for themselves.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 The Quilt (p. 1)
• 2 The Trucking Company (p. 11)
• 3 Lullabies and Work Songs (p. 23)
• 4 Rebel Daughter (p. 33)
• 5 Bringing Water to the Desert (p. 47)
• 6 Waiting for the Harvest (p. 63)
• 7 Potatoes and Poetry (p. 79)
• 8 Unfinished Eulogy (p. 101)
• 9 How to Steal an Estate (p. 113)
• 10 Judgment Day (p. 129)
• 11 The Book of Leona (p. 143)
• 12 Finding Warmth (p. 157)
• Acknowledgments (p. 171)
• About the Author (p. 173)
• Photos (p. 175)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Comic writer Ambrose (Midlife Happy Hour, 2016) takes a more serious look back at her life in an account of growing up in rural Idaho in a family controlled by an ambitious, successful father with an appetite for Crown Royal whiskey."" A trucker in his early twenties when Elaine was born in 1950, with one son already and a wife who sometimes worked three jobs to help support the family, Neal Ambrose went on to create a large-scale shipping company with an emphasis on transporting frozen food and to buy up much of the land in their county for farming. Unfortunately, the author devotes several chapters of the book to settling a score with her older brother, describing in unnecessary detail a court battle over their father's estate. However, the substantial portion of the book devoted to her childhood and parents is clear-eyed, evenhanded, concise, and loaded with fascinating details about the struggles and joys of growing up female in the fifties and sixties.--Margaret Quamme Copyright 2018 Booklist