Southern Discomfort: A Memoir

  • Author: Tena Clark
  • Narrator: Tena Clark
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 8:27:52
preview
Try it Now Firm without compromise. Cancel whenever you want.

Synopsis

For fans of beloved memoirs like Educated and The Glass Castle, a “raw and deeply honest” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) true story set in rural Mississippi during the Civil Rights era about a white girl coming of age in a repressive society and the woman who gave her the strength to forge her own path—the black nanny who cared for her.

In her memoir that is a “story of love and fury” (Jackson Clarion-Ledger), Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Tena Clark recounts her chaotic childhood in a time fraught with racial and social tension. Tena was born in 1953 in a tiny Mississippi town close to the Alabama border, where the legacy of slavery and racial injustice still permeated every aspect of life. On the outside, Tena’s childhood looked like a fairytale. Her father was one of the richest men in the state; her mother was a regal beauty. The family lived on a sprawling farm and had the only swimming pool in town; Tena was given her first car—a royal blue Camaro—at twelve.

But behind closed doors, Tena’s family life was deeply lonely and dysfunctional. By the time she was three, her parents’ marriage had dissolved into a swamp of alcohol, rampant infidelity, and guns. Adding to the turmoil, Tena understood from a very young age that she was different from her three older sisters, all of whom had been beauty queens and majorettes. Tena knew she didn’t want to be a majorette—she wanted to marry one.

On Tena’s tenth birthday, her mother, emboldened by alcoholism and enraged by her husband’s incessant cheating, walked out for good, instantly becoming an outcast in their society. Tena was left in the care of her nanny, Virgie, even though she was raising nine of her own children and was not allowed to eat from the family’s plates or use their bathroom. It was Virgie’s acceptance and unconditional love that gave Tena the courage to stand up to her domineering father, the faith to believe in her mother’s love, and the strength to be her true self.

Combining the spirit of brave coming-of-age memoirs such as The Glass Castle and vivid, evocative Southern fiction like To Kill a Mockingbird, Southern Discomfort is “an unforgettable southern story… [that] sings brightly to the incredible strength of family ties and the great power of love” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and is destined to become a new classic.

Chapters

  • 001 SouthernDiscomfort Open

    Duration: 48s
  • 002 SouthernDiscomfort Dedication

    Duration: 39s
  • 003 SouthernDiscomfort Prologue

    Duration: 05min
  • 004 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter1

    Duration: 21min
  • 005 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter2

    Duration: 18min
  • 006 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter3

    Duration: 08min
  • 007 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter4

    Duration: 07min
  • 008 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter5

    Duration: 15min
  • 009 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter6

    Duration: 13min
  • 010 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter7

    Duration: 08min
  • 011 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter8

    Duration: 16min
  • 012 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter9

    Duration: 16min
  • 013 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter10

    Duration: 08min
  • 014 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter11

    Duration: 11min
  • 015 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter12

    Duration: 11min
  • 016 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter13

    Duration: 11min
  • 017 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter14

    Duration: 11min
  • 018 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter15

    Duration: 21min
  • 019 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter16

    Duration: 10min
  • 020 SouthernDiscomfort Chapter17

    Duration: 19min
page 1 from 2