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[personal profile] full_metal_ox
(Warning for self-harm and attempted suicide mention.)

I’m recalling an account (nonfiction; I can’t recall whether it was a memoir , a magazine article, or a cookbook) in which the author recounts visiting a genteel (Southern U.S., I seem to recall) older lady who used to fix them carrots and onions braised in orange juice; she ate only fruits and vegetables, believing such foods to be cleaner than grains and animal products. Her dietary choices also had to do with a paranoid-schizophrenic idea that people were trying to poison her; she’d never had children, owing to abdominal damage sustained during a suicide attempt.

This would’ve been in the 70’s or 80’s. Since similar recipes are commonplace, the recipe per se isn’t what I’m looking for; it’s the context that’s creating a nagging itch in the brain.
[personal profile] mirado
Hi, friends!

I'm searching for a book that I believe I read sometime around 2002/2003.
The MC is a young girl (maybe 10 years old? Possibly younger...Wish I remembered more!) with a younger baby brother and a mentally ill mother. The MC is always looking out for her brother and taking abuse from the mother in attempts to shield the little boy.

At some point the MC goes to the house of one of the mother's ex-boyfriends, she feels somewhat safe there. The mother's ex is sympathetic, and I think he tries to help/protect/support the kids. Legally, he has no power to help.

One scene that stands out in my memory: The mother is driving with the girl in the front seat and the baby boy asleep in the backseat. The mother intentionally drives in the wrong lane, heading for oncoming traffic and refuses to go back into her lane. She demands that the MC first say "I love you." The MC does to protect her brother.

The kids are separated later in the story. The mother takes the baby and leaves the girl (maybe with an aunt? Or the mother's ex). There is an effort to find the mother and baby boy, and I think the two ended up hiding in a boatyard with the mother's sketchy new boyfriend.

I will be so grateful if anyone can help me!
Thank you!

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