Hillbilly Elegy

genuinely happy. She was a good mom
who doted on her young son. She had a
little house not far from Mamaw’s and
seemed to be finding her way.
Though I felt happy for my sister, her
new life heightened my sense of
separation. For my entire existence, we
had lived under the same roof, but now
she lived in Middletown, and I lived
with Ken about twenty miles away.
While Lindsay built a life almost in
opposition to the one she left behind—
she would be a good mother, she would
have a successful marriage (and only
one)—I found myself mired in the things
that both of us hated. While Lindsay and
her new husband took trips to Florida