Tiger, Tiger

Margaux Fragoso's memoir of her 15-year relationship with a pedophile, starting when she was just 7 and ending when he committed suicide, is a devastating, haunting, yet eloquently rendered work. Narrator Susan Bennett inhabits Margaux from her youthful innocence to her teenage depression and her growing confidence in early adulthood, as she is all the while manipulated by her abuser, Peter. Bennett's portrayal of Peter, in turn, conveys his coerciveness--sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant--as he systematically breaks down Margaux's barriers and insinuates himself into all aspects of her life. Even though Margaux seems in retrospect to be aware of his manipulation, it's evident that she still retains affection for him. Bennett also excels in her portrayal of Margaux's narcissistic, verbally abusive Puerto Rican father. She delivers a difficult and sometimes graphic work with excellence. S.E.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 10, 2011
In this gut-wrenching memoir of sexual abuse, Fragoso, who has written short stories for various literary magazines, explores with unflinching honesty the ways in which pedophiles can manipulate their way into the lives of children. Fragoso met Peter Curran at a public pool in Union City, N.J., in 1985 when she was seven and he was 51. He seemed harmless, and invited Fragoso and her mother back to his house. This marked the beginning of Curran and Fragoso's 15-year relationship, which ended when Curran committed suicide at age 66. Fragoso's home life was strained—her mother was in and out of psychiatric wards and her father was an alcoholic—and Curran's home, with its myriad pets and lack of rules, became her refuge. The sexual abuse began slowly, progressing to oral sex in Curran's basement, an act that he requested as a "birthday present." Fragoso's sense of alienation—Curran controlled her world for more than half her life—is palpable in her telling. Using her own diaries and the myriad letters, diaries, and photographs Curran left behind, Fragoso eloquently depicts psychological and sexual abuse in disturbing detail.