Monica Holloway’s first memoir, “Driving With Dead People” starts off with her childhood recollections of growing up in Galesburg, Ohio with her gore-obsessed, mentally and physically abusive father; her mother, who always seemed to turn the other way; and her 3 older siblings, Jamie, JoAnn, and Becky, who all seem to have their own, very different ways of coping with their dysfunctional family. The only light that seems to shine into her dark childhood is her best friend, Julie, who is ironically the town mortician’s daughter. As she gets older, her family continues to fall apart. Once her parent’s divorce during Holloway’s teenage years, what seemed to make room for improvement caused her life to become even more hectic. Fighting depression in her adult years, Holloway struggled to continue her acting career. Then, her older sister JoAnn starts remembering sexual abuse from her father, and Monica worries she may have been abused too.

Overall, this book is a fantastic read for anyone who wants to hear an amazing story of a girl growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family. Holloway is to-the-point with her recollections and doesn’t sugar coat the truth. The reader feels as they are right there with Holloway and can feel her pain, abuse, and struggles. I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars are recommend it to anyone, regardless of age, because of Monica’s complex and ever-changing life.