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Reviews by Frances Ilnicky-Van Ameyden

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The Long Ago: A Novel
by Michael McGarrity

The Long Ago (3/12/2023)

Michael McGarrity's novel The Long Ago nibbles for the reader's attention at the start, and then proceeds to chomp away chapter after chapter to involve the reader's curiosity and sleuthing. The missing sister, younger than her brother Ray Lansdale, the protagonist, feels …more

You'll Forget This Ever Happened: Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s
by Laura L. Engel

Sticks and Stones (2/8/2023)

"Whatever will people say?" could be a sub-title for Laura L. Engel's novel "You'll Forget This Ever Happened." In the 1950's and early '60's, parents were cemented in their rules, and, from a teen's viewpoint, no amount of arguing (and really, there was very …more

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
by Colleen Oakley

A True Review (1/20/2023)

I've never read author Colleen Oakley novels, but The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise suggests I may read her other novels.

The first few chapters did not lead me to think about reading more of this story, nor any other works by Ms Oakley. (An older teen girl …more

Ariadne
by Jennifer Saint

The Mercy of the gods (4/8/2021)

For most of my life, when I thought of mythology, Edith Hamilton's name came to the fore. Now I dare say Jennifer Saint's name may well pop to mind! Her story about Adriane was captivating! Saint piqued my interest in Chapter One, and held it through the Epilogue. I was …more

Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life, A Memoir
by Carol Smith

Grace and Grief (2/11/2021)

Having a beloved person die immerses us in painful sadness that takes an indeterminate amount of time to process. Carol Smith has written Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life, a Memoir that relates her own path of grieving for her only child, Christopher, …more who dies at age ten of “natural” causes. What could be worse than losing your only child? For Smith it is not only that her cherished son has died, but that she was not with her child when he passed. How can she possibly ‘forget’ this, or him? Smith states that ‘letting go’ of her grief and guilt was the same to her as ‘forgetting’ him, and that would mean Christopher’s life never mattered. Unacceptable! Yet, her ‘living with’ interminable grief was not the answer either because she isolated herself from Life.

At one point, Smith is faced with a conundrum: When asked “Do you have children?” what should she say? ‘Christopher is my child’ or ‘Christopher was my child.’ The simple statements made no sense to her. She couldn’t make either be true. The author relates that she read in the New York Times that in the Khmer language the term for giving birth (chhlong tonle) means (“to cross the river”). In her grief she feels like she is being swept away by rushing waters, that she is drowning. Yet, she cannot die because who will remember her sweet son? There is no answer to 'why my child?' Her child’s death impels her to look at how other people grieve under their own painful circumstances.

As a journalist at Seattle Post- Intelligencer, (she previously worked at the Los Angeles Times), Smith’s boss suggests that Smith try her hand at medical stories. Since she’d been immersed in medicine with her son’s health problems for ten years, it seemed reasonable. Smith deftly investigates, probes, researches, and reports on seven people who each face a unique medical situation. It is through her immersion in each of these stories that Smith begins to realize that there is trans-formative power in loss, and that Hope and loss, Joy and sorrow, Grace and grief can co-exist.

Carol Smith writes so well that even though the reader is exposed to some horrific circumstances in a few stories, the book and its “lessons” move along. This book could do well as a book club choice if members are first aware of the author’s reason for writing. (less)

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World: A Novel
by Laura Imai Messina

In search of a phone booth.... (1/2/2021)

As each human processes a loss of a beloved person, Grief changes its face. One can feel sadness, anger, pain, denial, and even fear, culminating, hopefully, in acceptance. In Laura Imai Messina's novel "the phone booth at the edge of the world," main character …more

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