Jeannette Walls, Author of The Glass Castle
Take Me Back to Redway tells Yolanda Taylor's incredible story: a mother who lived the American dream. In her quest to successfully raise her children, she turned to her past, a past that until recently she was ashamed of. She grew up homeless, raised alone by her father, after he escaped both Vietnam and her abusive mother. Th ey settled in Northern California, living fi rst in an abandoned packing crate and then in a lean-to. Her father sacrificed his career and his identity to devote these years to her development. Th ey lived in poverty, but she had constant love and attention. She borrowed and worked her way through an Ivy League education ultimately receiving her MBA.
Now, she has her own children. She achieved everything she could have ever hoped to achieve. She struggles with her upbringing more than any other time in her life. She recently gave up her dream career to devote this time in her life to her children. She is scared to death of translating her drive and motivation into something so intangible.
Take Me Back to Redway tells two parallel stories - one past and one present; the past is folded into the present day, with themes joining the two together. Th e drama of each story concludes simultaneously.