A gracefully written, travel-focused memoir with particular appeal for midlife and female readers.
In this collection of essays, the author taps into various travels as pivots for her midlife reflection.
In 13 chapters, Voss, a 50-something registered nurse, meditates upon her life’s trajectory in the context of what she has identified as key travel moments, encompassing childhood and adult experiences. In particular, she details trips within her native state of Iowa to the Mines of Spain Recreation Area; her visit to “Claus-Land,” i.e., Germany, the land of her ancestors and specifically great-great-grandfather Claus; and to Spain, the destination she set for herself as part of her process of obtaining a later-in-life graduate degree in creative writing. The chapter “Steps that Count” reflects the perspective taken in all her essays—that to document certain journeys is to hold a mirror up both to nature and one’s life. Her most affecting stories are often those of treks more near than far; for instance, a treacherous sailboat experience in Canada that she endures with a soon-to-be-ex husband, who she realizes cares more about adventure than her safety, and her connection to Iowa eagles and their shared “history of endocrine disruptor chemicals that led to the eagles’ near extinction and to the total extinction of my dreams of motherhood.” The autobiographical details are sometimes intense, as in a loaded sentence within “Claus-Land”: “Despite twelve years of trying to conceive, four lost babies, two lost husbands, five major surgeries, four outpatient procedures, fifteen artificial inseminations, three in vitro fertilizations, forty thousand dollars and countless daily hormone injections, motherhood wasn’t to be.” Still, Voss’ largely elliptical approach in unfolding her life’s stories is elegantly executed and effective. Readers may be left wanting more from this engaging author, who touches a variety of relatable topics, including a charming riff, while on Prince Edward Island, about her affinity with Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables (1908) and the character’s love of fashion as well as Mother Earth.
A gracefully written, travel-focused memoir with particular appeal for midlife and female readers.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4826-1089-5
Page Count: 266
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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