Calla Lilies: A True Story of Four Sisters and Their Struggle to Survive Abuse, Addiction, and Poverty in America

Four young Southern sisters try to live life with courage and determination despite an alcoholic birth mother who deserted them and a maternal grandmother who left them at the Salvation Army. Two sisters remained in foster care during childhood, but all four women have subsequently reunited and are close despite recurring sibling rivalries. Through all their adversities the four sisters show an amazing inner strength and resiliency, and it is obvious they care about improving their lives. Conversations from 1994-2002 between the sisters and their stepmother reveal surprising events in real-time; their lively and impassioned personal conversations read like a novel but are absolutely true. Their stories include heart-rending acounts of childhood physical and sexual abuse and spousal abuse in marriage, unwarranted loss of children, living on the minimum wage, and repeated ER visits resulting in pain-medication addictions. Boxes of statistics inserted between the conversations add educational material to support the many social issues in the book. These women are survivors, but it is easy to see that traumatic childhoods left them with drug and alcohol addictions to stop the pain and memories. One has served time in Chowchilla Women's Prison in California after life on the streets of San Francisco and LA. This book speaks volumes to the unfairness of our legal system and its failure to rehabilitate offenders. At the heart of this memoir is a touching love story of five women, four sisters and their stepmother, who support each other with uncompromising loyalty and devotion.

Author: David Tabatsky,Kay Corbett
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 01/09/2014
Pages: 396
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.38lbs
Size: 9.61h x 6.69w x 0.81d
ISBN: 9781490536774

About the Author
Kay Corbett's formal education includes a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona and graduate studies in voice performance at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Kay has been active in such organizations as the American Association of University Women, the Clifton Community Women's Club, the Democratic Women of Clifton and Northern Virginia, church choirs, and book clubs. Kay and Chuck Corbett have been married 33 years. They have traveled to about 75 countries during that time, including a tour of Stalin's gulag system in the Russian Far East and a trip on the Trans-Siberian railroad, most of Latin America, ancient Mayan ruins in the Guatemalan jungle, and an engrossing two-week visit to Cuba through Elderhostel. Kay has remained a mother to her Calla Lilies, Teresa and Lisa, for over 40 years and to her Calla Lilies, Cynthia and Tina, for 15 and 28 years respectively. She is also stepmother to Chuck's two sons, Ken and Clay. Kay and her husband, Chuck, live in Clifton, Virginia

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