The Greater of Two Evils: A Memoir

Audrey Moir’s harrowing memoir begins late one night in Queens, New York, when the six-year-old is awakened by her mother’s screams. In the throes of yet another alcoholic rage, Audrey’s father beat her mother senseless, left her for dead, and whisked the children out of the apartment and into a desperate, vagabond life. Moir makes no attempt to downplay the bleakness of the ensuing years, which included living with her immigrant grandmother, surviving a lonely stint in a New York orphanage, and traveling cross-country while subsisting on roadkill and oatmeal. Ultimately, Audrey’s father settled the family in Seattle, where childhood stretched into a grim existence marked by poverty, abuse, and alcoholism. When the adult Moir learned her mother was alive, she launched an exhaustive search for her―and the result was a stunning truth that she never could have imagined. Despite its dark premise, The Greater of Two Evils showcases the fortitude of the human spirit and the power of hope.