"Unlike her older sisters who had blue eyes, Faith's eyes were brown, large, and somehow very knowing for one not yet walking."
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Barbie by B. Geraldine Meggait Trafford Publishing
book review by Jenny Luper
Barbie is a unique tilt on one great-grandmother's story. The author states that she "values her large family—children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—and wrote this book as a legacy for them." She tells of her childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood in soft tones, warmly showing her family how she looked to the brighter side of life while dark times were always present. The book culminates in the marriage to her husband, giving rise to the large family she mentions.
The tilt arrives when Meggait looks back at her own childhood, not as herself, but as a separate young girl named "Barbie." At the start of each chapter, the narrator begins in the present tense, taking walks by herself or riding in the car with her husband of many years, all the while yearning to tell Barbie's tale. The story then quickly descends into Barbie's life and sometimes harrowing mishaps and hardships. Meggait asserts that she used this difference in perspective so "…she was able to look at her own life more objectively, as if she were a kindly older person looking at Barbie growing up with her accompanying joys and sorrows." However, this point of view allows an almost closer insight to the character of Barbie. The third person view is so closely reined within Barbie's mind that at times the narrator imposes guidance and sometimes guilt from an older Barbie. This perspective provides a fundamental insight into this memoir as the author attempts to guide both Barbie and the future generations of her family.