North of Normal: A memoir of my wilderness childhood by Cea Sunrise Person

Book Reviewed: North of Normal: A memoir of my wilderness childhood by Cea Sunrise Person

The child of lesser God:

This is an absolutely fascinating story of a young woman who grew up in Canadian wilderness with her grandparents and her mother away from civilization. She was born into a counter-culture family that did not believe in traditional lifestyles. She lived in under a canvas tipi where almost anything could and would happen; drugs, alcohol, sex, nudity and carefree living. This was certainly not normal for the young Cea Sunrise Person who had strong desires for a healthy and normal life with her family. But her mother’s constant search for a true love made her travel all over; they all turned out to be ill-fated adventures. Her mother’s boyfriends had no interest in the young Cea, which deprived her of a fatherly figure in her life. Cea knew little of the world beyond the forest she lived. She spent her summers playing in the meadow and her winters snowshoeing with her grandfather whom she idolized. Despite severe winter storms, food shortages, and drugs-sex-alcohol parties, she still likes to think her little existence was a happy one.

The author narrates her story beautifully; fresh in her memory of the scars that was created mainly by her mother that had severe impact on her life. She had a successful modeling career in her teenage years, travelled on her own, worked and attended school and paid her mother’s bills. Despite that her mother knew little about her modelling life in NY, Los Angeles, and Paris during summers between schools. At 15, Cea was in Paris on her own and her mom did not even care and her grandfather whom she remembers fondly never responded to letters or cared to return her calls. Life was not a bed of roses. She had to use cocaine and have sex with a fashion photographer to make it in modeling business; a gypsy boy had snatched her bag from her shoulder leaving her penniless and without a passport; a man in Paris Metro had masturbated on her hair, yet she had to deal all this without her mother. Life was tough, but then again she was better off without her mom. While a successful international modeling career offered her a way out of the wilderness, Cea discovered that this new world was in its own way daunting and full of challenges.

On the lesser side of the story, I am a little puzzled about the title of the book, North of Normal. Is she talking about her current life as a happily married woman with three children? The book covers mostly her childhood and her teenage years which are anything but normal.

This is a heartwarming story of Cea who ultimately finds happiness that was denied to her in younger days. This is a successful tale of self-discovery in the midst of adversity; she still finds strength and courage to turnaround her life triumphantly. This is a great eye-opener for many unfortunate women who grew up in difficult families. Memoirs like this inspire others to face things in life boldly and courageously.