Cher: The Memoir: Part One

In Cher’s memoir, she details many instances of adversity in her life, explaining how she tried to be resilient in the face of these difficulties. Growing up in poverty was one of her most enduring challenges. Her single mother, Georgia, struggled to provide for her and her sister, causing Cher to feel “embarrassed and isolated” at school since she was usually “the poorest student in class” (71). She recalls that her childhood often felt “Dickensian,” writing, 

There was a time that we were so broke that my saddle shoes were literally falling apart and had to be padded with cardboard to stuff up a hole and wrapped with rubber bands to keep the soles from flapping. It was so Dickensian. I begged Mom to let me stay home until she could afford new shoes (71). 

Cher’s memories of feeling deprived show how her impoverished circumstances affected every part of her life and informed her vision for her future, too.

Since there was little Cher could do to improve her circumstances as a child, she imagined a different future in which she and her family were never in need. Cher remembers how she fantasized about becoming the provider for her family, writing, “Those are the times that being poor really got to me and I promised myself that one day I’d be rich and take care of us all” (73).