Book Review -- My Year with Eleanor

My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir by Noelle Hancock

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hangover rating: 3 stars

Source:  Nook ebook

Genre: Memoir; self help

Objectionable material: some minor language

On the eve of her 30th birthday Noelle Hancock loses her job. Life is in crisis mode.

In an attempt to bide her time until she secures another one and recreate her old "exciting" self, she embarks on a year of "fears" in tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt's quote, "Do one thing every day that scares you."

This was a pleasant memoir in the theme of many other self discovery, "do something in a year" books (live biblically, live in Italy, eat vegan -- you name it).

Her anecdotes of swimming with sharks, flying from a trapeze, climbing Mt Kilimanjaro (among others), were whimsical, terrifying, and inspiring.

Her writing was witty and clever.

Interestingly enough, I found myself more interested in the life and writings of Eleanor Roosevelt, though. There is a woman I definitely need to read more about.

A quick and easy memoir if you are looking for something effortless to read.

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September Book Club -- The End of Your Life Book Club

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hangover rating: 2

Source:  Personal copy

Genre:  Memoir/Biography

Objectionable material:  None

 

In a tender tribute to his mother, Will Schwalbe writes of the final two years of his mother's life and their shared love books. In waiting rooms, pharmacies, car rides, vacations -- Will and Mary Anne discussed the many books they read together -- their very own two person book club, minus the refreshments.

Will's mother was an amazing woman: Radcliffe- educated, theatre trained, she went on to direct auditions for the London Academy of Music and Drama, was an educational administrator at Harvard, volunteered for months in a Thai refugee camp, founded the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, and in her final years, raised funds for traveling libraries in Afghanistan.

I was a bit surprised I'd never heard of her.

I appreciated the author raising my awareness of his mother's accomplishments, her charity work, her friends, her love of literature and a life well lived.

However, I'm not sure if the author was trying to write a book club book, a biography, a family history. Or what exactly. In many ways this book was, as my friend Becca mentioned, a 300 page obituary with an attached reading list. There was no clear narrative, no clear direction, no clear focus. The books almost seemed an afterthought.

But my main issue with his memoir/tribute was its tone: Between the name dropping (they lived next to Julia Child), the overseas travel (we all could be so lucky to visit London and Geneva whilst undergoing chemo), the political slant, and overall affluence, the entire story was laden with pretension. My take -- if you get cancer it's better if you're rich, because you can still vacation in Vero Beach, and upstate New York, and have your townhome in Manhattan. Oh and lots of books too.

Ultimately though, in a world where mother's are berated in print by their offspring, this book was a generous outpouring of love for a beloved mother.

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Book Review -- The World's Strongest Librarian

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne

My enjoyment rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Book hangover: 0

Source:   I received a copy of this book free from the publisher. I received no other compensation, and my thoughts are 100% my own.

Genre: Memoir

Objectionable material:  language including the F bomb.

In his acknowledgments author Josh Hanagarne says, “When I finished the final version of this book, I thought, ‘This is a really weird story.’”

I couldn’t agree more.

Josh is a 6’ 7” librarian. Who also happens to be Mormon. Who also happens to have Tourette Syndrome. Who also happens to lift kettle ball weights to help manage his “tics” and symptoms.

That, my friends, is weird.

But interestingly enough…the weirdness actually works.

In his memoir, The World’s Strongest Librarian, we learn how Josh struggles with his disease, his attempts at traditional medication, his difficulty with school, his faith, his family relationships, and his job.

I appreciated how much he has overcome to try to live a “normal” life – the attempts at intense physical and mental training to keep “Misty” (the name he has given his tics) at bay. I enjoyed learning about his family and his marriage and their struggle with infertility; about his continued worry over his son, Max, and whether he too would inherit Tourette’s. I was especially touched by how honest he was with regards to his Mormon faith – and the struggles he has with “not knowing” where he is in life with his religious beliefs. I can totally relate.

The librarian side of me wished it had more librarian anecdotes – because libraries are zoos and the patrons are the animals and on any given day, you never know what is going to happen or what you might step in. Quite literally. So, I was desperate for MORE of those – because his scenarios were very funny!

But this wasn’t a “library” book – this was a book about illness and the strength to overcome.

 

Josh in his own words:

 

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Book Review -- Wild

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars (initially I was going to give it a 3)

Book hangover rating:  1 of 5 stars (I was ready for her journey to end).

Source:  Personal copy

Genre:  Memoir

Objectionable material:  Language (including the F-bomb); sexual situations; drug use.

Completely shattered by the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed’s life hits bottom: she embarks on an adulterous lifestyle, divorces her husband (whom she claims to love), battles a potential heroin addiction, and becomes distant with her remaining family members.

In order to overcome her overwhelming despondence, Cheryl commits to hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, a 2600 mile trek through California, Oregon and Washington. In Wild, her successful memoir, she recounts the physical, personal, spiritual, and emotional journey she endures to reconnect with herself, and on many levels, with her mother.

This was an amazing excursion.

Admittedly poorly and underprepared, Cheryl battles horribly blistered feet, a back pack so over laden with supplies it becomes the “monster,” lack of water, late year snowstorms, rattle snakes and bears.

But fortunately, her trip is buoyed by the many strangers (who become friends) who help her along the way.

In times of difficulty, we often think of ways to “reconnect” or “find ourselves.” Most of us can get by with long weekends, or longer sabbaticals. But months long adventures are not possible. Ms. Strayed’s bravery and determination are unmatched. Especially for a woman traveling alone.

In the early days of her trek she recounts, “I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked. Every time I heard a sound of unknown origin or felt something horrible cohering in my imagination, I pushed it away. I simply did not let myself become afraid. Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to beget power. And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid…I was working too hard to be afraid.”

That was my favorite passage of the whole book.

The only issue I had with the book:  after weeks (which turned into months) on the trail, I grew a bit weary reading about her hike – it became much of the same -- waiting for supplies at the next outpost, hunger, blisters, setting up camp – same situation, different location.

But it is a bold book about, as Ms. Strayed says, “learning to bear what you cannot bear.”

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Book Review -- Heart Warrior

Heart Warriors: A Family Faces Congenital Heart Disease by Amanda Rose Adams

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book hangover rating:  4 out of 5 stars (I will never stop pondering those who suffer from congenital heart disease)

Source:  ARC provided by the author (I was not compensated in anyway for my review)

Genre:  Memoir; non-fiction

Objectionable material:  Minor language.  (Trust me, when you think your kid is going to die -- Fbombs are often common.)

I am a member of the club.

The vast club of mothers who have children with congenital heart defects – the number one birth defect in children.

It’s a club I highly recommend NOT joining.

However, it is comforting to find other mothers (families) who have go through the same experiences, seen your children’s chest ripped open, and worry constantly about their future health.

Amanda Rose Adams in her memoir, Heart Warriors, details in passionate, loving and painful details the story of her son, Liam, and his battle to repair his “broken heart.”

For much of the book I was experiencing “survivor’s guilt” because our son does not have the same type of CHD, nor has his heart-road been nearly as difficult (at least to this point). As Amanda relates the number of air-transports, hospital visits, surgeries, cath labs – I almost put the book down because I didn’t feel like my son was sick enough to continue. Max, after one surgery, is a normal little boy, with absolutely no restrictions or medications. Will that change, possibly, but I live in a dream that I can often forget his condition.

But I’m grateful for Amanda and her quest for not only Liam, but for all children with congenital heart disease.

As a mother, I am not worthy.

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Book Review -- Call the Midwife

Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s. by Jennifer Worth

My enjoyment rating: 5 of 5 stars

Source:  Library

Genre: Memoir

Sensitive reader:  Explicit detail on child birth, venereal disease, and prostitution.

A time capsule.

That is what Jennifer Worth has given us in her memoir, Call the Midwife, a perfectly captured time-capsule of her life in London’s East End, where she trained as a nurse, midwife in the 1950s.

This was a glorious book. Her storytelling was superb. I was immediately transported to post-War London, walking foggy streets, among ramshackle buildings and immense poverty. But among the ruins, is a group of midwives, The Sisters of St. Raymond Nonnatus, who care for the greater population of women of the East End.

We learn to love, hope, dream, care, cry, and mourn for her patients: Mary, a 15 yr old prostitute; Molly, the very young abused mother of 3; Sally, a 21 yr old expectant “mum” who suffers from eclampsia; Mrs. Jenkins, whose story is so tragic, it could be a book unto itself; and Concita Warren, a mother of 25 (take that Michelle Duggar!), who speaks no English, but raises her family with love and courage.

She also gives us a great history lesson about the East End and the “Cockney” residents. It was an education just trying to understand how they spoke!

I wanted to read Ms. Worth’s memoir BEFORE I watched the mini-series. I’m so glad I did. It will be one of my top 5 favorite books of the year. I loved it.

Call the Midwife is the first of a trilogy of books that she wrote – the second, Shadow of the Workhouse, and third, Farewell to the East End. I’m eager to read those as well.

Sadly, I learned that Ms. Worth died last year. I wonder what she would think of her memoir being adapted to a mini-series?

Finally, here is a lovely video of Ms. Worth reminiscing about her work in the East End.  It is a treat.

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Book Review -- The Book of Mormon Girl

The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith by Joanna Brooks

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Source:  Nook

Genre:  Memoir

Objectionable material: None

I’ve often heard that being a Mormon is like being Jewish – it’s more than just a religion, but a history, a tradition, a nationality.

In her book, The Book of Mormon Girl, Joanna Brooks shares with us her Mormon-ness – how it’s her faith, her history and her tradition.

But she also shares her struggles as a feminist writer at a time with the Church did not welcome such open dialogue and criticism from a group of vocal women writers. She explores the agony she felt at being abandoned by her faith, as well as her reconciliation, even though it was (and continues to be) a difficult journey.

I too am a Mormon, and like Ms. Brooks share a faith and a tradition that travels deep within the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. I too have struggled as a “feminist” liberal woman within the very conservative, patriarchal roles espoused by the Church. Her story was familiar and poetic. It resonated deeply.

My only wish was that she had written more. I could have read another 200 pages.

In many ways…it could be my story.

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Book Review -- Zeitoun

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book source:  Nook

Genre:  Non-fiction; biography

Objectionable material:  FEMA (!)

Do you ever wonder what would happen if you were accused of something you didn’t do?

Would you be able to convince someone of your innocence?

Could you find an attorney?

Would your family and friends believe you?

What if you were arrested and no one knew?

In Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, we come to know Abdulrahman Zeitoun (going forward known simply as Zeitoun [Zay-toon]) – a hardworking business man in New Orleans, who with his wife Kathy, run a successful painting/home restoration company. In the immediate days that proceed and follow Hurricane Katrina, they struggle, like most did, with what to do: Do we leave? Do we stay? Storms are never as bad as they predict? What about our properties? Our business? Our home?

They decide as a family that Zeitoun will stay and “man the fort” while Kathy takes their 4 children to stay with relatives in Baton Rouge.

And we all know what happens next: first few days…storm seems manageable. Then the levees break and the floods come.

Zeitoun is stranded in his home – but fortunately, he has had time to secure much of their property to the upper floors. He also has a second-hand canoe.

With his canoe he saves stranded neighbors, friends and dogs. He also is able to check on the multiple properties they own in the city. Including a property that has a working landline phone. It’s from this property that he is able to contact Kathy on a daily basis (while she is pleading for him to leave!) and from this property that his worst nightmare manifests.

Eggers brilliantly tells the story of what happens to Zeitoun and Kathy in the weeks that follow Katrina. It’s Shakespearian in scope – unlawful arrest, missing for days, presumed dead – everyone’s worst nightmare come to pass.

I was horrified by our Government.

I was humbled by Zeitoun’s faith.

Something like this should never happen. Ever. Especially in the United States.

And in his own words, Mr. Zeitoun about his experience post Katrina:

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A Book Week in Review…

My Dad with my then newborn son, Max

My Dad had a heart attack and triple bypass surgery last week.  He is 80 years old.  No time is a good time to have a heart attack…but at 80, it’s even tougher.

So, I dropped everything and drove 4 hours to my home in Oklahoma to be with my family at the hospital.  (Update: Doctors are thrilled at his recovery…but because of his age, it will be a long process).

Needless to say, I dropped all my book related issues:   I was in the middle of reading a book, had a review to post on our May book club book, and a myriad of other book related balls up in the air when I had to grab the batmobile to speed out of town.

Here are my expedited thoughts on my unfinished book week:

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

My enjoyment rating:  Did Not Finish

Genre:  General fiction

Source: Library copy

Objectionable material:  None (to the point where I stopped reading at least).

This was the first collateral damage of my sudden departure.

Grace Winter was on day 5 or 6 in a lifeboat, along with 40 or so other survivors, after the ship in which she was sailing, sank. 

The first 20 pages or so were rather enthralling.  I was eager to find out their fate.  But the longer they were on the boat, the less I cared.  So when I forgot to put it in my bag, and then it was due to be returned to the library, I had very little remorse that I hadn’t finished.  I haven’t thought another thing about Grace and her shipmates since.   

If someone has read this and thinks it’s worthy to check back out again, let me know.

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield

My enjoyment rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Genre:  Southern fiction

Source: Personal copy

Objectionable material:  the odd cuss word; veiled rape scene.

May Book Club Choice

Swan Lake (yes…that is her name) and her family have descended on her grandparents’ farm for the summer.  After a suicide, her father losing his job and a threatening, abusive neighbor shake up their idyllic summer plans, Swan and her family must learn to depend on one another and God through faith. 

This was a typical southern novel – juvenile characters facing the battle of good vs. evil with added family angst.  The writing was lovely, but the storyline meandered a bit.  Lots of characters, but not all necessary or well developed.  However, the book club ladies liked it, and our discussion made me like it better than I first thought (which is often the case).  I would be willing to give this author another chance, should she choose to write another book. 

June book club choice:  Women, Food, and God by Geneen Roth

Don’t Sing at the Table by Adriana Trigiani

My enjoyment rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Family memoir/self help

Source: Nook

Objectionable Material: None

Popular author, Adriana Trigiani, has written a poetic memoir about her Italian immigrant grandmothers, Lucia (Lucy) and Viola: their families, their growing up years, their professions, their talents, their heartbreaks, and their joys.  Loved reading about these two very unique and special individuals.  But the book turned “self help” through some of the chapters, and that wasn’t nearly as successful (and almost awkward) as reading about Lucy’s and Viola’s lives.  

Made me reminisce about my own very special grandmothers. 

However, I’m so glad I read this first before starting The Shoemaker’s Wife – I think it really sets the stage for Ms. Trigiani’s newest novel.

Book Review -- Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight





Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book source:  Personal copy

Genre:  Memoir

Objectionable material:  Language

Living with obstacles worthy of the Old Testament – drought, frogs that escape through the plumbing, snakes that inhabit the kitchen, more vermin than one can count, insects the size of small rodents, filth, and illness, – Alexandra Fuller and her family don’t necessarily make an Exodus through the Red Sea, but they do transverse three African countries as her father works as an African ranch manager.

In Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra (Bobo to her family) recounts her nontraditional childhood spent in civil war ravaged Zimbabwe (as well as Malawi and Zambia) – from helping her mother herd wild cattle, to protecting the family home from rebels and terrorists, to nearly dying from contaminated water – it’s remarkable that she and her sister (Vanessa) survived to tell the tale. In fact, life was so dangerous 4 of her siblings (3 referred to by name, one just by birth date), do not survive – all so tragic that with each death, her mother is nearly physically and mentally destroyed.

In comparison to a similar survival story, Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle, what made Alexandra’s story more engaging, was that Alexandra’s parents weren’t intentionally trying to harm her – or living an illegal life – they just happened to choose a very difficult career in a very dangerous, remote area.

This was an astounding and well written story – I was amazed at her endurance and grit.

Ms. Fuller has written a sequel, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, which tells in more detail her parents' story and her mother's mental breakdown.  I am eager to continue the Fuller's story.

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Book Review -- Immortal Bird





Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir by Doron Weber

My enjoyment rating: (Mr. Weber's story 1 star; Damon's story 5 stars) = 3 of 5 stars

Book Source:  Library copy

Genre:  Memoir

Is it even possible to be critical about a book that details the death of one’s son without sounding callous? I’m going to try…

Damon Weber was born with a congenital heart defect – the number one leading birth defect in all children – a single ventricle that required two surgeries immediately after his birth. For the next 13 years, Damon and his family lived a fairly normal life, free of heart complications. But that would soon change when Damon develops a rare, life threatening disease directly related to his initial heart repair. After years of treatments, medications, and failed procedures, Damon and his family are faced with the only option left – a heart transplant. What transpires after his transplant is truly tragic and a parent’s worst nightmare.

Doron Weber has written an angry, caustic, and powerful account of the life and death of his son, Damon.

Although Mr. Weber’s takes us on an amazing, but painful journey through the final years of Damon’s life and treats us to a Damon who is talented, witty, brilliant, and tireless, I’m not sure if this was Damon’s memoir or Mr. Weber’s?

It is loaded with references to Mr. Weber’s education, experience, connections, colleagues – and an arrogance that is nearly suffocating. While an advocate for his very ill son, Mr. Weber believes his own intellect and knowledge and his access to the elite echelon of achievers in each sector of society will best the doctors who are treating his son. In reality, Mr. Weber was trying to use his contacts to play God.

But in the final pages, even with Mr. Weber’s haughty attitude, it’s ultimately a father’s (and mother’s) love that permeates the story about Damon and his fight to survive and his tragic death.

As a side note: My connection to this book is personal – my youngest son was also born with a congenital heart defect – and although his issues are different than Damon’s, the anguish I felt at the end of this book rocked my soul.

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February Book Club -- The Pact

The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis

My enjoyment rating: 3 of 5 stars (5 stars for inspiration; 3 stars for mediocre writing)

Source:  Personal copy

February Book Club choice

Black History Month choice

Born in the projects of New Jersey, the future seems bleak for Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt. Their neighborhoods are saturated with drug dealers, crime, and hopelessness. But when they forge a friendship in junior high, these three young men make a “pact” that their lives will be different – that they will finish high school and graduate from college. It’s a tough road – so many influences trying to derail their dreams – but with the help of many mentors and their own determination – they succeed.

One of the blessings of being in a book club is the opportunity to read books you have either never heard of or would not normally pick up on your own. This is one of those. I’d never heard of “The Pact” and I’m so glad our discussion group leader made this our choice.

My life is so VASTLY different from these young men. I’ve never been arrested for the simple fact that my skin color is different. I’ve never been threatened with violence or drugs. I’ve been raised in a stable family with a mom and dad: So many things that can change the outcome of one’s life.

What they were able to accomplish with so little is truly amazing – when so many of their friends were succumbing to the pull of peer pressure, drugs, and street life.

The only negative to this book was the writing. For what was a truly inspirational story, the writing was uninspired – which really took the gloss off trying to read about their accomplishments.

It was an excellent book club choice – so much to discuss about race issues, the plight of inner city education – and education in general really – and giving back to one’s community: A Pandora’s box of social issues discussion. But also guiltily so as we were a group of very naïve white women.

For more on The Pact -- check out the related video:

 

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Book Review -- The Dirty Life

The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball

My enjoyment rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source:  Personal copy

Genre:  Memoir, non-fiction

My only recollections of EVER getting up at 3:45am:

• Pulling an all-nighter in college to finish a college paper or study for a test

• Nursing a newborn

• Insomnia

Kristin Kimball and her husband Mark, get up routinely that early (or is that still considered night time?) to do their “chores” – everything from milking cows, to feeding chickens, to the multitude of other tasks that must be done on their farm – Essex Farm – in upstate New York.

The Dirty Life is the story of Kristin’s transformation from city chic to farmer frugal. Living the urban life in Manhattan, Kristin was a well traveled writer – who on assignment to interview an organic Pennsylvania farmer – fell in love with her subject.

In glorious prose, Kristin recounts for us their courtship, their early trials at farming, the arduous job of raising animals, and the nemesis of both insects and weeds that inhabit their fields.

Although not quite ready to sell my house and move to a rural outpost, I was enthralled at the transformation of Kristin’s life: living in a ramshackle and dirty farm house, infested with rats; the sheer amount of energy and fatigue she and Mark invest in the land; and the happiness that blossoms forth. It was obvious to me after reading her book, that all of us spend way too much time in front of the computer! Nary a mention of texting, tweeting, or blogging – just slop, seeds, slaughter, and sunshine.

She does not sugar coat their efforts – her memories of the farm are marked by conditions – the dry, the wet, the frozen, the abundant. It made me want to read an additional chapter, not yet written, about how the farm is fairing after the tremendous rains inflicted on upstate New York with both Hurricane Irene and tropical depression Lee.

This was pure enjoyment – I only wish I had an Essex Farm close enough to me in which to indulge.

For more from Kristin -- check out this great video:

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Book Review -- Unbroken



 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars (if I could give it 6 I would!)
Genre:  Non-fiction; biography
Source:  Personal copy
Sensitive reader:  graphic descriptions of war, bombing, prisoner of war treatment and conditions.

The Greatest Generation: This title has become synonymous with the generation of Americans who served our country during World War II. Among them was Louis (Louie) Zamperini.

Louie was an Olympian and after coming up short in the Berlin Games of 1936 – he’d set his sight on the 1940 games and was training to be the first man ever to clock running the mile in under four minutes. But his dreams were interrupted with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Louie was stationed in Hawaii with the Army Air Forces when he and an assembled rag-tag crew (which included his pilot, Allen Phillips) were ordered to fly a mission in an unreliable B-24 plane, “Green Hornet” as a rescue mission for another missing crew.

What happens to Louie and his fellow service men after they boarded their plane is terrifying, horrific, heroic, and how legends are made. And the results of their ill-fated mission are just the beginning of Louie’s story.

Laura Hillenbrand has written an epic story that follows Louie through his being lost at sea for 47 days, his years as a Japanese POW, his inhumane and brutal treatment at the hands of psychopathic prison guards, his liberation and his difficult return home.

Her narrative is transfixing – I often found myself “white knuckling” the binding of the book as I read the more anxiety filled scenes of bombings and shark infested waters. As a reader, there is an intimacy with Louie, his friends, his crew, his fellow POWs, that as the story unfolds and you learn their fates, it is mixed with utter jubilation and heaving sobs.

I am in awe of Louie and the thousands of men and women who had the fortitude and endurance to survive such atrocities. And I am humbled by those who suffered similar carnage, but didn’t survive. It is amazing that any human being was able to endure the brutality that was inflicted on Louie and his comrades.

Thank you Louie for your spirit, your optimism, your example and for carrying on (he is still going at 94!).

Thank you Laura for telling his story in such a spellbinding, but reverent and respectful way.

And thank you to all those who served and died for our country during World War II. You truly are the Greatest Generation.

(For an equally inspiring book, I recommend The Hiding Place by Corie ten Boom)

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I recommend the following video clip; I also highly recommend going to www. louiezamperini.com and viewing the Louie Zamperini Olympic tribute from the 1998 Nagano Olympics

Book Review -- The Invisible Wall

The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
by Harry Bernstein

My enjoyment rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book source:  Personal copy

You are never too old to tell your story.

And at the age of 96, Harry Bernstein did just that.

Growing up in Manchester, England on the eve of World War I, Harry details in stunning prose the “invisible wall” that divides his neighborhood – that of Christians on one side and Jews on the other. His father a drunk, and his mother providing for 5 children (eventually 6), Harry’s childhood was filled with poverty, depravity, and neglect, but also a genuine amount of love.

More often than not, neither side of the street would have anything to do with one another. On the occasion of the Jewish Sabbath, a “goy” (or Christian neighbor) would cross the street to perform the necessary duties (light a fire, put a pot on to boil), in order for the Jews to keep strict Sabbath day observance. But that was the extent, for the most part, of their interactions.

The seriousness of this divide was made evident when a Jewish neighbor, Sarah, fell in love with a Christian, Freddy. When the romance was discovered, “shivah,” or mourning of the dead, was performed by Sarah’s family, and she was exiled to Australia.

It is miraculous that Mr. Bernstein can recall in such vivid detail the scenes from his early childhood. He is exact when remembering his home, his mother, the dialogue between his mother and siblings, the beatings he took from the bullies on the street. His portrait of his father is menacing…and we learn that after his mother died, Harry never saw him again.

Ultimately, this was the story of Harry’s sister Lily, and her own romance with Arthur (a Christian), that grabs hold of your heart and won’t let you go. Determined to break with religion, tradition, and risk all that they have, including their lives, for love, Arthur and Lily forge their own way in this very structured society. Harry’s portrayal of how their love bridges the divide is truly magnificent.

Sadly, Mr. Bernstein died two weeks ago at the age of 101.

He published two other works, The Dream, which chronicles his life once he emigrated to America, and The Golden Willow, about his life with his wife of 67 years, Ruby.

I was touched by this story.

But even more so by Mr. Bernstein, that even at the age of 96, you can still grab hold of your dreams.

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