The BENCH: A Belated (But Brilliant 😂) REVIEW!

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Shauna x Many people have asked me to review The Bench by Meghan Markle and it felt like quite a difficult task!
However once I tackled it, it proved rather interesting 🤔
I hope you find it interesting too!
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[@margiekraftkindt4208]

This is the best critique of the book out there--that the author is a literal thinker, hoping to become a creative writer, nails the problem of the writing. Sadly, there are worthy writers with fine stories, struggling to get noticed and published, elbowed out by a big-name wannabe.

[@thevintageread]

Always the way…❤

[@anne-no2ic]

You made it more interesting with your commentary and analysis why it wasn't more than a feel good Hallmark card to harry. i doubt it is any childs favorite book. I had no interest in looking it over and I look at a lot of childrens books for the sheer pleasure they give any reader, young or old.

[@pollyparrot9447]

It is often the case that the mediocre book by a celebrity provides the income that enables the publisher to take a punt on better writers who might not sell as well, so that is some consolation.

[@juliettebarker9443]

So succinctly stated!!!! Totally agree.............

[@margiekraftkindt4208]

You are so right and that is some consolation--of course publishing is a business and is driven by what will make the most money.@@pollyparrot9447

[@UrbanArtCentral]

The fact that she read it to a group of lower income kids is really sad, knowing that many of them come from a fatherless background.

[@KaraMcnulty-nh6lx]

She also charged the low income children for the book

[@poppyjalto63]

Not all low income children are fatherless more wealthy people get divorced ..seriously

[@user-nw3xc2tk6y]

zero self awareness with her mind fixed soley on self promotion

[@LKMNOP]

​​@@poppyjalto63The commenter said many children, not all children.

[@swissuz]

@@poppyjalto63 I'd let that go...not worth a debate here...

[@user-et2xc2ww6q]

I felt sorry for the artist who drew awesome pictures for one of the worst childrens book in history .

[@flyonthewall8122]

He's also a Caldecott Winner. I don't know which book he won it for though. I also don't understand why she had him work outside of his usual medium. It makes no sense at all.

[@waywardrachel9637]

​@@flyonthewall8122oh that was just her narcissism dictating it was the best way to get him under control by getting him to work outside of his comfort zone.

[@kerrywilliams.5342]

The Artist got Commended for the Art.

[@dawnjohnson5937]

At least he got paid. Paid well, hopefully.

[@lauraf4202]

The artwork is so bland, gotta wonder how much they interfered with the artist’s ideas.

[@PestyTheCat]

“It’s a hallmark card, not a picture book.” Brilliant.

[@RLW369]

Your review is way better than the book. 🎉 My Dad was of the silent generation and only said “I love you” comfortably as he aged, but he made the time to come to softball games, to cook dinner when Mom took the late nursing shift, and to be the only Dad at the Mother-Daughter Tea when Mom couldn’t make it. Illustrating ALL the ways a Dad says “I love you” would have made a great book.

[@thevintageread]

Love that!

[@evasfinch8687]

It's how she writes and also speaks...this asinine book, her Tig blog and her pointless word salad speeches. She has the irritating habit of pontificating when she's nothing but an empty vessel or as you put it, shallow. Thank you for this review. You're such a kind person and I do believe you really tried to be fair.

[@lydiabou6349]

I think that's the point. She's acting her whole life trying to be someone else. Once i heard somebody say the reason why she is such a lousy actress is that she's behaving like someone playing an unemployed actress. She isn't authentic at all and maybe she doesn't even know who she is.

[@TraceyBurton-gs6jm]

Pontificating is such a great word.

[@ongjanette]

I don't know about the Tig blog. I've come across a couple of them and thought they were quite well-written. Fluffy, yes, as all lifetyle blogs are wont to be, but nothing like the rambling she gives in her speeches. 😂 it's fun, light-hearted and has good structure. Maybe she hired a ghostwriter or still find it worthy to submit to an editor at the time. Even her engagement interview doesn't sound like the succinct way of writing I've come across in a few of the Tig blogs.

[@Horsefeathers30]

I would pick my 4-year-old up from daycare and he would come running to me with a prize. It was usually tiny rocks he would pick up from the playground He said he was thinking of me as he collected them. He's 19 now, and I still have those tiny rocks. I can't imagine Meg getting rocks and appreciating it.

[@thevintageread]

Beautiful! With me it was pine cones 😂

[@felliesweetie]

😂😂😂

[@justsayin8893]

My eldest son is 45 and i still have the rocks he gave me

[@waywardrachel9637]

My daughter would pick me wild flowers from wherever she could find them. 😂 She's 18 now and still does it from time to time 😂

[@elizabethmcloughlin1984]

With me, it was little sparkly things my toddler granddaughter made for me. She's 13 now & I've still got all the little trinkets stuck to various clocks & radios. Even the TV. I even have a picture she painted at 3yrs old on my living room wall - FRAMED!! It looks quite like Monet's Water Lilies. Seriously. But know that's either a happy accident, or the memories of a doting grandma. Doesn't matter. Every time she comes to my house, she always looks at it, asks "Have you still got that Grandma?" And gives me a bear hug. Unlike us, Megaliar wouldn't know how to make lovely memories about children. You gotta love children first.

[@marie-christinelafontaine6043]

My father-in-law was a WWII veteran. The strong silent type. Never said "I love you"to his children or their spouse (me included). He was a bit more verbal with his grandchildren. And yet, we all knew how much he loved us. There was no doubt, no ambiguity. That man LOVED his family with all of his heart and soul. So I agree with you. Words are important but there are many ways to show love to someone. Not all of them included words.

[@tonyatolley2731]

I agree with you. My father was very much the same. He was a man of few words but his actions spoke volumes.

[@diane64yorks]

My mother was the same, the only time she ever said "you know I love you?" Was when she had dementia in one of her lucid moments not long before she died 😢

[@oldcatlady3803]

What that shows is she is not a Mother, she has no understanding of what it takes to be one.

[@Pivoinerouge]

This analysis is so accurate. Aside from the awful things she has said and done, she is grating because she comes off as a person playing a role, she is spending her life acting, she is the director of a movie in control of everyone and in which she is the star.

[@bluediamond4502]

I agree. I always think that she sees her life as a movie that she has to try to present as so perfect. I also imagine she has a vast collection of photographs that she spends hours and hours curating. 💎🙏💕🐨

[@dv7361]

That was a brilliant review. It went beyond just the book and gave us a glimpse into her personality, from a different angle this time 👏🏻

[@thevintageread]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jeangodding6348]

I haven’t read the bench and don’t expect I ever will . Not only does Megan masquerade as a poet , I think the pretence is complete and the emptiness is vast .

[@jayteedeene5981]

Did she send her own father a copy?

[@thevintageread]

Ouch! Good point though.

[@janeknight3597]

Your charecter analysis explains a lot. It certainly explains why Ms M could not handle the stage. ❤

[@tammyconnelly3324]

It's ridiculous that a woman who has alienated both families should give advice about family.

[@monicaburdett236]

Shauna, even if Harry's wife won a top prize for her book, I wouldn't waste my money or time reading anything she wrote. I never thought I would dislike a person as much as I dislike her. I do not believe for one second that she loves Harry. Time will tell if she actually loves her children ( for their sake, I hope so).

[@heavencanwait421]

As a narcissist, she is incapable of loving anyone except herself. It’s a sad soap opera playing out before our eyes in real time.

[@gladiatrx3]

"Time will tell if she actually loves her children ( for their sake, I hope so)." What "kids"? I personally hope all the rumors about them being other people's kids and/or rented child actors is true, because they don't act like any kind of responsible parents at all (self-interested, completely self-absorbed, selfish scumbags the pair of them!)

[@userMelC]

I completely agree with you and I also wonder, what kind of mother is she. She is so contrived and controlling, how can she stand not being able to control children. Everything she does is calculated and he fell right into her trap. But, he is also a grown man and he needs to actually, grow up and stop blaming everything in his life on his family and circumstance. They are an awful pair.

[@swissuz]

Sad but true that many people feel the same. It's like we are watching a drama in real time....only I'm not sure I want to see the ending.

[@lauraf4202]

The book reads like it was written not for kids but for Harry, yet addresses him not as an adult but as if he’s still a little boy. The fact that the author is his wife and they both buy into the shared fantasy that she is a reincarnation of his mother is just creepy beyond words. “You’ll never be ‘lone”…yuck.

[@Wanda711]

Everything about this book sounds pointed to me. Always saying "I love you" out loud has the unspoken subtext "Unlike YOUR father, who never said it to you." The same goes for the riding a bike segment: Harry complained that his father didn't do the usual daddy stuff, like riding a bike with him, so Meghan ostentatiously paints into her picture of the ideal home life to contrast with the one he grew up with.

[@thevintageread]

Yes another manipulation?

[@sugarskull2392]

Yes, except there are lots of pictures of KC riding bikes with H.

[@monicawarner4091]

​@@sugarskull2392 • Diana always said that Charles was a loving, very hands-on father too.

[@mellie9633]

Only to have photos appear in the media of Charles, Diana and sons all bike riding together. Also some Harry as a toddler on the back of his fathers bike. Selective memories abound with these two. Oh good rewrite on the Bench btw.

[@jeanne2583-w1n]

However, even when Diana was speaking unkindly about Charles, she always said he was a very good loving father.

[@slix96]

She writes a book about a fathers love and dedication after she destroys her and Harry’s fathers. Make it make sense

[@efstathiakositzidou2490]

Thank you for this Shauna.The explanation for her being a literal masquerading as a creative is so to the point.I couldn't pinpoint exactly what I didn't like in this book and you helped me see it.

[@maikehudson333]

It’s obvious that at that time (Harry’s first Father’s Day), Meghan hadn’t raised a toddler and had no idea what it would be like in real life.

[@ritahenderson6771]

And probably never will! The woman is to selfish and self centered to connect with her “children”, never mind that she is always on the go, going from one event to another, chasing after and staging her delusional self importance!!!

[@sharonmcloughlin]

My thoughts exactly

[@user-nw3xc2tk6y]

Completely, showing us again she really is clueless. It was a set of instuctions to H and more false projections to the world, 'I'm brilliant and perfect'. No mention of grandpa on the Bench either - neither one of them!

[@carolynholloway5488]

Perhaps she should have written it from the perspective of her relationship with her father. You would get similar emotions. After all, aren't you, as parent, reminded of your own experiences with your own parents at times when your children do and sat things? The memories emerge.

[@StandAsYouAre]

The written content is a private poem she wrote as a present for H, which she then turned around, took back, and made a book with so she could sell to publishers. That should have been a massive red flag for H. That M took something special that was just for him and him alone, and she took it back so she could profit from it. M could have written another book or another poem to use for this book, but she didn’t. How lazy can you be M?!

[@carolbythesea]

I doubt M ever thought of writing a poem for H. This probably was a business idea, conceived by another, to get her face and name out there. At that time, Fergie was reading children stories on KZbin during the pandemic, Kate was engaging with children and Camilla had a reading group she promoted reading online. M’s agent probably said M had to do something with children and a book and this concept was created for her. Would anybody believe she would ever write a poem? To Harry? I think not.

[@charmainerichter6954]

So right!!!

[@ritahenderson6771]

@@carolbytheseaI totally agree! Everything in „This one’s wife“ adult life is artificial and constructed! Since she seems to be one of the „biggest copycats“ out there and a person who never had an original idea in her life, she probably stole the idea, added her usual BS storyline and was able to publish her rubbish do to the status she achieved by ensnaring the “ginger winger”….NOT due to talent!

[@angelasims2759]

i never got how a poem could become a book, hardly an interesting story. just drivelled on really.

[@robb2biago]

I don’t think she even wrote the poem. She likes to lift her texts.

[@maureenmatthews7257]

Ok, here goes! I LOVE your reviews and this one is NO exception. Your parenting advice is so great and so spot on! I hope writers heed your sage advice. And young parents out there remember, your children need you when they are babies and toddlers, however, they really NEED you when they don't want you, and that is when they are in the pre-teens and teenage years. (nothing glamorous about those years)

[@thevintageread]

Indeed! 💗

[@voices_vary]

Perhaps Meghan, who was abandoned by her mother, only has a literal sense of childhood because she did not share loving moments with her own mother at the age of her audience. How much of Meghan's childhood experience is reflected here? Maybe more than she intends us to see. Great insight, Shauna, again!

[@blr4076]

Meghan overlooked the much older sister kissing the boo boo when you fall. 😉

[@suemccoy7533]

When you related learning to ride the bike it brought back such a sweet memory for me. My grandson stayed with me in the summertime each year when he was little and I was the one that took on the job of teaching him to ride a bike. I'm his Nana, so let's just say, I was not as young as his parents. The thing that brought back those memories of the running, holding on the the seat of the bike, as he learned to balance, like you mentioned, was then would just slow down and jump off, letting the bike just slam to the ground. I had to convince him using his brake was actually a better way to stop! By the way, he is now 28 and going to be married in February, how time fly's by so quickly.

[@thevintageread]

Best Nana in the world! 💗

[@lisakeell7343]

She masquerades all the time in her own words "I'm such a fraud" I feel sorry for all those hard working authors whose work never gets published. Love your reviews you are soooo perceptive!

[@ealeclerc9524]

Excellent review, Shauna. I can't figure out how anyone would think that book would appeal to toddlers or little children.

[@roseharvey2664]

Meghan actually said she wrote the Bench 'through a Mother's eyes'. She is central to the story and it's all about what she wants to see. Anyway, well done Shauna and i liked your idea of rewriting the book as a full on narcissist.

[@teachersusan3730]

My dad would never tell me he loved me. He showed me by helping me with work around the house, paying off a huge vet bill when my dog got sick - it was more a hands on approach. I felt loved in many ways without him ever saying „I love you“. I miss him very much ❤

[@w.dossett3332]

Exactly the same here

[@queenofkingsbury]

Wow, Shauna, This was a great review. You are very expressive and I enjoyed this review very much. Thank you for putting the time in and actually examining the book and the writer. I really appreciate your honesty. The perspective of a book is extremely important. Now we know what MM should be doing for a career, a hallmark greeting card writer, everyone has their calling.

[@renekirebornrenekireborn4777]

This book doesn't seem to take the audience into account imo. It's purely focused between her and Harry. Should've stayed between them I think too. I found the poetry pretty juvenile in a weird way. 'My heart goes pump pump' for example. Who says that? I don't understand. Thanks for your interesting take!

[@thevintageread]

Yes the poetry was very immature I agree!

[@user-nw3xc2tk6y]

Yes, agree, it's like a teen wrote it with the only aim being to find any word that will fit and rhyme.

[@DutchJoan]

Oh my gosh, you're so eloquent. You express so well what is wrong with The Bench. You hit the nail on the head about the literal and narcissistic perspective. I managed to suffer through Meghan's reading of it except for the crying at the end. Cringe even for Hallmark, too sickly sweet.

[@thevintageread]

Very!

[@ritahenderson6771]

It’s “sickly sweet” because it’s detached from reality.

[@detectivefiction3701]

Me again was CRYING at the end of the reading?!

[@DutchJoan]

@@detectivefiction3701 No, she didn't actually cry. The text says she cries while observing husband and son through the window. Meghan style, she tried to make it sound profound and authentic but achieved the opposite.

[@QueenOfScorpions]

I literally laughed out loud in your analysis of toddlers not meeting expectations 😂 Thank you for your review. As always, it was insightful and enjoyable, even when you don't necessarily like the book in some way. I'm here to hear you review books, and you always give a fair and well thought out response. Thank you. ❤

[@thevintageread]

I'm so glad!

[@lindatempleton8258]

Your comment says exactly my thought but better expressed thank you! Anyone with expectation of toddlers is heading for disappointments! The joy comes from things you cannot even imagine.

[@PaulDonnam-xs4kg]

The children at the school in Harlem that Meghan read out the Bench to looked totally bored.Harry and Meghan should repay them the $5 and release them from their NDAs.

[@thevintageread]

I agree!

[@marthastancil6188]

I agree with review. Parents dont always continually tell you they "love you" but show it in many other ways!

[@winkieblink7625]

I’m a voracious reader. Couldn’t wait for that “Hallmark” time of reading a book to my baby kids before bed. THEY DIDN’T WANT TO SIT and be read to! LIKE ALMOST NEVER. They were wiggle worms until they crashed to sleep. I was crushed. As adults they are successful, professionals and readers themselves. But there went my imagined ideal parental moment!

[@ceejayretired]

Oh that's sad, both my boys just loved being read to and not just at bedtime, they are both still great readers . My nephews boys are the same so whenever I see them they come running with books to read to them.

[@saviness]

As far as I know, the book card didn't sell...the thing with this one's wife is that she EXPECTS everything from others but not from herself. She is perfect. Why change anything Doesn't have to make any effort. Don't forget that in the US and Canada it's always "love youuuu" to everyone. Don't think the bank was fat with this masterpiece.

[@winkieblink7625]

@@ceejayretired it’s NOT SAD. My gosh. It’s what is. So many other things are SAD in life. I got over it. Your kids had the patience at bed time. Mine did not. Why COMPARE the situation as sad!? My kids went to collages on Athletic scholarships! Some kids can’t play sports at all, but they are young readers. Why compare! I know you didn’t mean any harm with your statement but it’s good to be aware. Short true story: my child cried because he studied and studied for a Jr high test and only got a C. Learning came easy to his friend who with little effort would always get A’s. This was a teaching moment for me to explain to my child that EVERY CHILD has gifts. My kids could run and catch a ball but reading and comprehension was hard in the primary years, whereas other kids could not run and catch a ball but tests were easy for them. My kids grew up having an understanding that everyone’s skills and gifts were not equal but each precious to oneself and to NOT be envious.

[@detectivefiction3701]

Winkieblink7625. I definitely see what you're saying and agree with your overall point. However, the person who replied to your comment may have said "That's sad" as a way of sympathizing with you as you said you were "crushed" when your little kids didn't want to be read to.

[@ceejayretired]

@@detectivefiction3701 thanks, that's exactly what I meant when I said how sad.

[@hildagreen7143]

Oh how I related to the first bike ride, when they hit that sweet spot, so well described Shauna! I did that with my grandson just when lock down ended! He was 5 yrs old and I had taught him to read during lock down. My heart was so full, that precious little guy on his first little bike I bought for him. I ran and ran and cheered him on 👏👏👏👏 It was beautiful to hear you describe it exactly! I love love love your reviews, you are one brilliant and beautiful lady 💓

[@jeanne2583-w1n]

My parents never said "I love you." Doesn't mean they didn't. It means they showed it in their actions.

[@thevintageread]

Exactly x

[@carolynholloway5488]

As Shauna said, sometimes saying I love you feels mechanical and not heartfelt.

[@andrewsyd]

I’ve always said it should have been called “The Stool” 😅

[@thevintageread]

😂💗👏

[@r3adrpro811]

Too punny!😂

[@bluerose_11]

now thats funny

[@journeysintothelight2133]

🤣😂🤣

[@Kamandarainey]

Lol. How absolutely insightful renaming the 'book' "The Stool", as it's utter sh*te! 💩 😂😂😂

[@lynnewilliams6662]

I can’t believe you found anything to compliment it on.🤣🤣🤣 so many talented writers never get an opportunity. Loved your bike and running story so true. ❤️❤️❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@karengilson5429]

“I love you” - yes I also think this can be the MOST often insincere phrase of recent years! I don’t remember it being part of my vocabulary as a child in the 70s, yet I was the most loved and wanted child. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who finds this phrase glib and can be an excuse not to bother to SHOW love. Actions always speak louder whether in a family or between a couple, the phrase is meaningless without the deed to go with it. Great, great review of this book, you’ve hit the nail on the head, as always! Love your videos 😊

[@rose5170]

Yes indeed, in the same way how we write 'love from' in a card to someone we don't really know very well renders the word meaningless. I was with a foreigner once who asked what he should put in the card he was sending and he was completely taken aback when we said write 'love from'. He kept saying 'but I don't love her'. And good for him, he refused to write it.

[@thevintageread]

Thank you 😊💗

[@detectivefiction3701]

I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "I love you" to members of your family whom you actually do love. Where I find the phrase disingenuous is when KZbinrs say it to their subscribers, whom they haven't met and never will.

[@sophierosebisou8420]

A “narcissistic review” of a book by a narcissist... you are right, BRILLIANT and exhausting for a non-narcissist! Can’t imagine Megawatt running behind anyone’s bike since she always pushes to be in the front.

[@leandabee]

Hmmmm, yeah ok, if we must, 😅🤦🏼‍♀️. So glad you are taking one for the team 👌🌻🌻

[@thevintageread]

😁

[@rachelturgeon114]

This was a fantastic review with insight into why this book didn’t work. The masquerade of her life exposed on so many levels. Any creative pursuit always reveals so much about the personality behind the attempt and you have done a deep dive into a very shallow pond. I LOVE you channel and your insights. Thank you so much.

[@KatefilmNYC]

I learned a lot here about literal thinking and how it is represented, thank you! The book reminds me of the poem Meghan recited on the Netfix doc about her parent's divorce, " 2 houses, 2 homes...." She wrote it as a young teen, and it's perfectly fine for a child, nothing extraordinary and certainly not something that needed to be shared with the world 30 years later. That she can rhyme does not make her a prodigy poet. Her lack of self awareness is why so many don't like her.

[@user-qz2gq7sz1n]

Sounds like the same limitations were brought to her expectations of what life would be like in the Royal Family. And when it didn't meet her expectations it could only be that they were doing it wrong.

[@Sage-Em]

Thank you! She lacks depth and yet she consistently asserts herself aggressively, striving to be perceived as profound. Despite not possessing significant intelligence, she desperately tries to project an image of intellect. Her creativity is minimal, yet she is determined to convey an impression of creative prowess. It's tragic

[@ElaineTomlins-ir8jw]

Our King does not own a mobile phone! How many parents do you see glued to their phone instead of paying attention to the kids? Of course some people need them to film the ' paps chasing them!

[@caroleaddison5534]

I don’t believe that she wrote it as a gift, I think she spotted an opportunity to exploit him and used it to get herself published. Call me cynical? Yes, 😂

[@waywardrachel9637]

I'm right there with you. I never give her the benefit of the doubt anymore. I used to in the beginning but not anymore.

[@starwood213]

This is not a book that appeals to children at all Its not fun or imaginative and its failure is unsurprising.

[@dawnjohnson5937]

What an OUTSTANDING commentary 👏👏👏👏👏. Your suggestions: the learning-to-ride-a-bike experience, the dug-up worm are SPOT-ON!!! You would have written such a wonderful book, Shauna.

[@marlenaamalfitano2727]

I remember my dad doing that and trying to teach me to float in the water. He was not verbal about love, but I knew he loved me, always

[@tinekebak7142]

Love your real life based review. I worked with young children and this so not appropriate as a young children's book. Should definitely have stayed in the sock drawer. I love that you can so vividly describe what The Bench utterly failed to. Your lively words and tales of childhood were a healing of the deep unease i felt reading The Bench (in a long queue at Kmart where it was selling for a couple of bucks). Didn't buy it myself. Don't know anyone who did. Meghan not understanding the middle range of emotions makes sense of her Royal life experience too - all Disney glamour and 'true love' or paranoia and despair - and not being able to find a creative way through the realities of that life, as many others have demonstrated is possible despite the difficulties. Like Crown Princess Mary of Denmark or Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, or even Sophie, Catherine, and Camilla.

[@thevintageread]

Yes…perfectly said 🤗

[@bernadetteverstraete9038]

Well my dear, my dad never said in words he loved me, but he said it every day of my life. He worked very hard with my mum to give me and my brother a very good life. I'm 73 now, my parents and brother are gone, I live in my childhood home which my parents worked very hard for. Love comes in many forms. As a child,when I told my dad goodnight and that loved him he would say yup,yup,yup as he read his newspaper, he said he loved me too.

[@sueanderson7735]

Archie was about one year old when he was learning to ride a bike????

[@thevintageread]

Well I think it was her vision of the future! 😂

[@elainewalsh6324]

I listened to MM read this book on the Brightly Storytime channel. First, she made a point to tell children that she’s Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. Did children really need to know she is a Duchess? IMO - this entire project to get this book published is a vanity project for her. This book is not a story that would entice children with characters, plot and conclusion. The best part of this book are the beautiful watercolor illustrations.

[@kathybutterfield2760]

Oh she loves her title, even puts it on her handbag! Remember when she told Oprah she didn't care about titles? The only title important to her is Mom? She is FULL of it. "Such a fraud!"

[@judithricca6915]

Shauna thank you again for a “brilliant” review. Your observation that the writer of the poem/book is a literal person masquerading as a creative person is a very interesting take. Thank you.

[@SusanDwyer-mp6yv]

Liked your call on the book,I listened to Meg reading it, but I wasn't impressed with it, but like you saw some sort of intention behind it. It shows her lack of experience with kids, and her coldness came through

[@vanettechristian2182]

Love is a verb. How you are treated says more than all the words.

[@debaura9]

Sure is❤

[@di942842]

Thank you Shauna for that insightful review. Made me think of my late dad, and how he hardly ever said 'I Love You' to me and my siblings. But I never questioned that he did love us. Because he showed it in so many ways to us. I remember him following me to my room while I had a good cry when my mom was being so hard on me (mom was such a task master when I was growing up). I also remember him traveling 6 hours just to make sure he could see me off before I took the bar exams, I remember one time when I thought he forgot my birthday (like a Sixteen Candles moment), and going home to find cake and baked macaroni to celebrate my day. No, come to think of it, I never heard him say 'I Love You' to me or my siblings. He came from another time and generation of people who did not really out right say "I love you". But man, did he make us feel he loved us. That was what mattered most.

[@jeanettecook1088]

You're right, she's literal and her narcissism works in the moment. The subject matter would have to be simple, in order for her to handle it, and you know she didn't write it. She's too lazy to have written even a simple story, by herself. 🎉

[@kj6146]

Definitely a brilliant review. Thank you ❤

[@thevintageread]

You are so welcome!

[@pollyparrot9447]

Oh dear. If Shauna unlocks the comedic potential in this book it might cause more sales

[@ByHookorbyNeedles]

love it lol

[@graphiquejack]

A father’s love is so important… but I’m going to betray my own father who clearly loved and supported me, and get you to abandon yours… that’s my issue with this book. If she cares SO MUCH about family, why did she destroy both hers and her husband’s? Thomas Markle’s other children all said he was a great father. William seems to respect Charles and Harry seemed happy and settled in the RF until she showed up. I have a hard time listening to anyone for advice when they clearly have no idea what they are talking about. The issue wasn’t with Charles or Thomas, it’s with you, Megs.

[@ginablanshard8255]

I got this sad vision of Archie sometime in the future sitting sadly on his bench wondering why he is so alone...

[@Fiona86555]

When you said that maybe she’s trying to cover up her real self, I said ‘YES’ out loud (and made my dog jump). This is definitely a part of what makes her unlikeable, the self she’s projecting isn’t played well and comes across as insincere. The alienation of her family members was also to cover up her true self. It’s a shame really, I hope she’s able to be sincere with her children, or they have problems in store.

[@kateboulton8789]

Growing up in the late 50s/60s, Mum told us all the time that she loved us. Dad? I don't ever remember him once telling us he loved us, but we knew he did. We were his world. His love was always evident if never spoken.

[@lindatempleton8258]

I agree brilliant! Your ideas of a shared moment on a bench did move me because they sounded more real. Teaching my son to ride a bike was in no way a "Hallmark" moment. It was scary exhausting and I argued with him because he wanted to give up. But as he finally rode away from me without a backwards glance my joy was beyond measure.

[@puffpiece1375]

It’s bad. This will be a laugh 😂 I hope you didn’t pay more than $1 for that book!

[@ewingshannon]

Who is her audience, the father or the child?! It makes no sense. It must have been self-published. I can't believe a publisher would accept this book.

[@kathybutterfield2760]

Having those titles definitely opens doors, unreservedly.

[@purpurina5663]

Shauna this was masterful 😂 the serious dedication to that drivel really does extract valuable information from the depths of its contrivance! I find the overuse of the word "joy" especially telling 🤔

[@thevintageread]

It is. The quick transition from happiness to sorrow was telling too!

[@MargaretMitchell-ob8lb]

Yes!

[@joanna133]

Your review is so much more interesting that the “book” itself 😅 thank you for your funny and interesting comments!😊

[@thevintageread]

My pleasure!

[@journeysintothelight2133]

Indeed, listening to Shauna is a huge pleasure!

[@glorialowe6237]

I really enjoyed how you described the way you teach a child to ride a bike. For me a bench is great to put a bucket when you cleanup the garden or put your clippers so they don’t get lost or just perch for a minute while you decide what’s next otherwise I would sit on a chair or on the ground. I cannot tell you how much that book put me off benches and the illustrations made it worse. You fixed all that because you are a nice interesting person unlike the other one 😊

[@thevintageread]

I can relate to the lost clippers! Happens to me every time!

[@antoinettecarson4037]

I agree in many ways. M is devoid of expressing her true feelings. There is a constant shoveling more of appearing intellectual. There were 5 in my family & having children gave me such an appreciation of letting them enjoy life's adventures while navigating as a parent.

[@gremlin5622]

AND brilliant 😊 It's great to celebrate victories and medals yet it misses the value of encouraging challenge and failure. Valuable skills are learned via accepting failure as a possibility - the courage to try, to experiment, to assess and learn, to celebrate progress and also to learn to fail and concede. It's one of the things I like best about Dr. Seuss' book "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" I fondly recall a wee one asking me to read the book. It was a favourite of his. I hadn't read it. His mischievous anticipation while I read of the fantastic events finally burst into laughter when I turned to the page and read, "Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't" . . . " He was delighted!

[@lokey-1607]

Thanks so much for your insightful review! You brought back wonderful memories of teaching my kids to ride a bike. They’re adults now, but I’m still smiling as I think of my intrepid son yelling, “Don’t hold the seat, don’t hold the seat!!!” as he tore off, and 4 years later my daughter yelling, “Don’t let go, don’t let go!!!” I think the book shows the coldness of Harry’s wife; there’s no evidence of a mother’s heart (such as your words described). The poetry sounded more like a third-grade attempt a homework assignment…from a child with no poetic inclination!

[@thevintageread]

Perfect summary x

[@mountainsno]

It felt to me as though m had no idea about parenting and was all over the place. Not calmly moving from idea to idea. Just my opinion.

[@sue-ellenpoya3054]

I just love listening to you! You are great with sharing & explaining... Yoh!

[@kathybutterfield2760]

Just brilliant Shauna! Very enjoyable and quite interesting. ❤

[@thevintageread]

Thanks so much! 😊

[@blesmac]

for me, where the book fails is that it lacks emotion - it doesn't convey emotion, it doesn't stir emotions...

[@thevintageread]

Agree

[@ppm4eva]

"She's trying to cover up her real self, and people can sense that ..." Spot on, Shauna. Her copious word salads are pretty much her attempt to create a fake self.

[@merriestroscher5795]

Yes, Shauna you are right. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. It’s Jane, Mrs. John Smith, NOT Jane, The Mrs. John Smith.

[@user-et2xc2ww6q]

Looking forward to this one . The audiobook for this is 210 seconds long . 😅

[@JulietMartin2022]

Hahaha…that’s hilarious. Bet kids really find glee in the fact that it is only 210 seconds.

[@Ciara1594]

What I found odd is how she described the bench as a "home". So was she consciously or subconsciously thinking of Harry or Archie as being homeless and sleeping on "The Bench"?

[@sabrinalehtisaari7552]

Bingo! I’ve said this from day one. She is not creative in anyway. She admitted that when she gave away the fact that she consistently highlighted books she read. To me she needs to take from others to create a narrative she wants to portray..cause she is copying.

[@mmatthews3682]

I LOVED your commentary! Thank you for sharing your own memories of a precious time in the the parent/child relationship 💗 May I ask you consider a small book of your own for those new parents!

[@thevintageread]

Great idea! Maybe they get too much advice though? 😂

[@user-rw7vh6hf1h]

Haha I LOVE your memory of your kids learning to ride their bikes 😍😂

[@ritahenderson6771]

Thank you for another excellent book review! In a way, the book exposes all which the Duchess lacks especially emotionally and intellectually. At the same time it exposes her point of view of the world and people in her world. Many of her „little stories in her book“ lack emotional attachment but yet provide some insight for her need of control. And „Literal“ is a very nice way to describe the „borderline way“ of how she structures her world. 😄 🙋🏻‍♀️

[@british.scorpion]

William McGonagall, the worst poet ever, would be proud of her.

[@voices_vary]

Fantastic recount of the real bike-riding experience!!

[@thevintageread]

I remember like it was yesterday! 😂

[@mila_speaks2]

I think this book was written in haste. Megs still had much to live and learn as a freshly new parent. I like your take on the, “I love you”. I learned to not say it always as it became a routine. Like when saying ILY every time I’m about to hang up the phone or leave the house. I tried to make it a conscious decision on when to say it. Now we practice feeling it in the moment - when we know it mean something. I’m cooking and my 15 YO son pops in with “i love you, mom”. My 18 YO daughter stopping me as I walk down the hall to say “Can I get a hug, I love you”. My husband randomly saying “I love you” as we doze off to sleep.

[@user-ql6qx9xu9n]

She wrote. Good. That is to be encouraged. But that is the issue, isn't it: one gets the feeling MM was raised on a steady diet of "affirmations" (you're special; you're very pretty; don't settle; stand-up for yourself; what other people think doesn't matter; rules were made to be broken). As she grew, she weaponized them all, having added her smile and sexual allure. "Sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds," Shakespeare wrote. This is what I wrote: Raising Gone Wrong You had been told, had you not, at home and in school to be a world changer, that rules were for turtles but not for butterflies that carried light on their wings and flew above others. Isn’t wrecking change gone sour, the child of a kind of raising gone wrong?

[@sabinekoch3448]

Beautiful. 😊

[@helendurfee8926]

That was an excellent review! I'd never have read it, but listening to your comments was a revelation. You confirmed my assessment that she doesn't have a clue about being a parent. I loved your descriptions of relating to your little boys. 💓

[@angelaauger169]

My husband doesn't always put 'I love you' into words, but he knows when I'm gasping for a cuppa and will make one without being asked. That's love to me. You don't need the words 'I love you' for affirmation of the sentiment.

[@sundog3150]

Oh, the bike experience, SO TRUE, SO TRUE, made me laugh so hard , I dribbled my coffee out. Lolololosnort❤❤❤❤ But remember narcissists can’t really express true love. They love bomb, they use I love you to manipulate people.

[@user-tt3jb2do8m]

She wrote a book about a perfect relationship between father and son. This after her relationship with her father is non existent, and at the same time his became non existent. So not any grasp of reality.

[@Brightangel55]

Spot on insightful book review Shauna and so funny. I just wonder if Notting Hill might be one of Meghan's movie favourites - I bet she imagined herself as the pregnant Julia Roberts on the bench in the last scene...

[@lilianbirt7235]

When you said she’s a literal thinker that finally made her very clear to me. I’ve been wrestling to define what’s lacking in Meghan. She is literal and she does talk in a word salad ways. I defined it before as shallow. But saying she’s literal makes sense.

[@alans.2735]

Great analysis..a literal trying appear creative..I think that is very well observed and true.