At Mother's Request

At Mother's Request: A True Story of Money, Murder and Betrayal by Jonathan Coleman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book goes into much more detail in the life of Frances Schreuder. I had puzzled over the actions of her mother, Berenice. It was hard to understand why she was so connected to Frances, who was such a difficult child and who treated her so badly. This book did a much better job of exploring that relationship.

Frances was clearly sociopathic and it was fascinating reading about her view of the world through her own eyes. No matter how clever a sociopath is, they will never be able to cover their tracks completely because they will never be able to understand and copy ordinary people who can empathize with others or truly love them. In the book, her relationship with her son, Mark, whom she favored and could always control, was a clear example. However close he was to her and however much favored he was, she turned her back on him as soon as he was no longer useful to her. This was a fascinating study.


View all my reviews