3.2 out of 4 stars.

Eileen Rockefeller is the youngest of the six children under Peggy and David Rockefeller. THE John D. Rockefeller is her great-grand father. To the public’s eye there really isn’t much that the Rockefeller family do not have. They own four homes; a townhouse in Manhattan, a range in Tarrytown, NY, a bungalow in St. Barths, and a house in Maine. However, we all know how this story goes and not everything is as it seems. The Rockefeller family is no different. There are several hidden demons. Dun, dun, dun..or not really. I expected a lot more Great Gatsby drama and glamour to unfold when I heard the name “Rockefeller”. Unfortunately, that did not transpire.

Eileen is constantly bullied by her fellow siblings and made to feel like an outcast. She is left to spend time with her mother, Peggy, who basically seems to want nothing to do with her. We later learn that Mrs. Rockefeller is constantly battling with depression and anxiety due to the expectations she feels she has to uphold. She finds peace not from her family life but from nature and animals. To no surprise, it was her idea to buy the Maine home so she can have rolling acres to herself. She even gave each child a log cabin on the propriety to see how they would do on their own.

Eileen spends a lot of her youth trying to get her mother to acknowledge her. We do not hear a lot about her relationship with her father.

A large portion of the book is Eileen trying to find her way just like any of us would. It seems like she needed to write this book in order to get out the message that she is doing okay and that she is a person who can survive despite what seems like everyone looking down on her.

I read a few reviews on the book and learned that it took Eileen SIX years to write this and she went through twenty four rejections.

It is obvious that Rockefeller is not a writer and I struggled to be moved by a lot of the points she was trying to make. However, I wanted to finish the book because it did relay the message that everybody deserves to have their voice heard. I am betting that Eileen feels like the door to her past is shut and she is able to start her life having written this.

I would have loved to have more insight into the Rockefeller lifestyle in the eyes of the other siblings because Eileen seemed like she spent a lot of her child years with her eyes closed (assuming survival mode took over).

I bet this book would be great for a family member that feels a little isolated and/or someone in a transitional period.