An earnest remembrance that will be meaningful to readers undergoing similar experiences.
Personal trainer Beder Solway, the co-founder of online fitness platform ABS Fitness, presents her story of her in vitro fertilization and surrogacy journey, along with self-help practices.
Two years before writing this book, the author, an avid runner, completed the 2022 New York City Marathon at the age of 51. The race was grueling, she says, but far shorter and easier than her lengthy and often discouraging struggle to have children. Her first pregnancy in the late 1990s was difficult; she experienced shortness of breath, she says, and labial swelling that “resembled a cow’s udder.” Her baby, Hannah, was born premature but healthy. However, after the author was diagnosed with a genetic condition that overtaxes the heart, she was warned not to have more kids. Unwilling to give up her dream of a large biological family, she turned to a procedure that involved implanting an embryo into a surrogate mother. After painful fertility treatments and repeated failures, Beder Solway and her husband left their Canadian home for a New Jersey fertility clinic. They discovered that one potential surrogate mother had a history of drug addiction, but a perfect match later materialized. Beder Solway frequently compares her quest to long-distance running; both require patience and preparation, she says, and in both cases, she experienced a feeling of “hitting the wall” but pushed on. The book cleverly contains the same number of chapters as miles in a marathon (26.2, before a brief, bonus 27th chapter); at the end of each, she asks philosophical questions that aim to foster self-examination. Some readers may wonder why the author felt it necessary having children through IVF, particularly when she already had a biological child, and she addresses this in the text, and many will find her perseverance to be admirable. Also, the passages in which she expresses her love for her long-awaited offspring are clearly heartfelt; at one point, for instance, she lyrically writes of touching her son Aidan’s fingers: “Each contour of his skin felt like a love letter written in Braille.”
An earnest remembrance that will be meaningful to readers undergoing similar experiences.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781998454228
Page Count: 236
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
