Kitchen Privileges: Memoirs of a Bronx Girlhood Review

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(More customer reviews)Does any reader have to be told who Mary Higgins Clark is? I think not. But, now with this remarkably candid and affecting memoir the author of 27 bestselling novels tells her personal story. Not only that, this recollection is related in her own voice, making it all the more meaningful. Rather than through a fictional protagonist she speaks directly to us with words of encouragement and hope.
Beginning with a childhood in the Bronx during the Depression Ms. Clark had dreams - she dreamed of becoming a writer, and her mother encouraged her even though the older woman struggled to make ends meet by renting out rooms. A sign was placed by the front door reading, "Furnished Rooms. Kitchen Privileges."
Ms. Clark's days as a student at an exclusive girl's school came to an end; she lost an older brother whom she deeply loved during World War II. She tells with affection and sensitivity of her marriage to Warren Clark, and the birth of their children. A devastating blow occurred when he died unexpectedly leaving her widowed with five young children.
Nonetheless, she soldiered on, writing at a kitchen table. For her labors? Forty rejections. Determined to reach her goal and support her family she wrote radio scripts and began work on a novel.
The rest is literary history. Ms. Clark generously shares her life experiences, reminding us that dreams can come true when someone is willing to persist and fight mightily for them.
- Gail Cooke

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Even as a young girl, growing up in the Bronx, Mary Higgins Clark knew she wanted to be a writer, The gift of storytelling was a part of her Irish ancestry, so it followed naturally that she would later use her sharp eye, keen intelligence, and inquisitive nature to create stories. Along with all Americans, citizens of the Bronx suffered during the Depression. So when Mary's father died, her mother opened the family home to boarders and placed a discreet sign next to the front door that read, "Furnished Rooms. Kitchen Privileges." The family's struggle to make ends meet; her days as a scholarship student in an exclusive girls academy; the death of her beloved older brother in World War II; her marriage to Warren Clark; writing stories at the kitchen table; finally selling the first one for one hundred dollars, after six years and forty rejections -- all these experiences figure into Kitchen Privileges. Her husband's untimely death left her a widowed mother of five young children. Determined to care for her family an& to make a career for herself, she wrote scripts for a radio show. In her spare time she began writing novels. Where Are The Children? became an international bestseller and launched her career. When asked if she might consider giving up writing for a life of leisure, Marv has replied, "Never. To be happy for a year, win the lottery. To be happy for life, do what you love."

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