Unapologetic Reviews

Jane Austen was born on 16 Dec 1775. 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of her birth. Join me in celebrating by reading and watching media connected to her. Follow this schedule: Jane Austen: Behind Closed Doors Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley Becoming Jane (2007) Sense and Sensibility Sense and Sensibility (1995) Sense and Sensibility (2008) Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice (1940) Pride and Prejudice (1995) Mansfield Park Mansfield Park (1999) Mansfield Park (2007) Emma Emma (1996) Emma (2009) Emma (2020) Northanger Abbey Northanger Abbey (2007) Persuasion Persuasion (1995) Persuasion (2007) Modern Persuasion (2020) Persuasion (2022) Miss Austen Regrets (2007) Miss Austen by Gill Hornby Miss Austen (2025-)

I listened to Shari Franke's The House of My Mother as an audiobook, narrated by the author herself. It was a mixed experience. In the early chapters—where she describes her mother, Ruby’s childhood and their family’s early years—her reading felt distant, almost detached. Since Shari wasn’t part of that story, it came across as a recitation rather than storytelling. However, once the focus shifted to her own experiences, her narration became more engaging. Shari is careful not to tell her siblings' stories beyond what directly overlaps with her own, which is intentional and respectful. The only sibling she delves into is her brother Chad, and honestly, I felt bad for him at times. She recounts life before the cameras, the YouTube years, and what happened after their family’s channel declined—suddenly and dramatically, about halfway through the book. At that point, I thought, OK, so what’s the rest of the book going to be about? I couldn’t help but compare it to two other memoir...