Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
Liz Murray
2010, 352 pages
Nonfiction
Liz Murray's childhood in the Bronx reflects the harrowing journey of a child born into a family of poverty, mental illness, and parental drug addiction. In 1980, the author was born with drugs in her system (yet healthy) to a drug-addicted mother and a then incarcerated father. Her parents' mainlining cocaine was a routine activity in the home, adding a blood-spattered kitchen to their already filthy apartment. The purchase of drugs was largely supported by a monthly welfare check while the author and her sister were barely fed; once eating toothpaste and cherry lip balm to stave off hunger pangs.
In a home lacking parental guidance, it was easy for the author to skip school, showing up just enough to pass from grade to grade through most of middle school. By high school, truant turned into drop-out as Murray's family fell apart and she found herself homeless at 15.
Despite the hardships of her upbringing, Murray bears no reproach to her parents. The author acted frequently as her mother's caregiver and confidante even as a young child, leaving Murray with compassion and deference to the demons in her parents' lives. It is this stoicism, combined with a refreshing lack of self-pity that allowed Murray to confront her future and overcome the odds.
“Breaking Night” is a poignant, inspirational story that bears testament to the power of hard work and determination, and the freedom that forgiveness brings.
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