Maw Books » Memoir/Biography

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer

Natasha Maw — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:00:10 +0000

Forgive me for using the book jacket description for Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer. I am so backlogged in the number of reviews I need to write and I’m finding that often it is the summary that slows me down. When I sat down to begin to write this one out I became so overwhelmed. So book jacket it is.

In Shattered Dreams, Irene Spencer told the devastating story of her arduous life in a polygamous fundamentalist Mormon sect [Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times], sharing her husband with nine other women (and fifty-six children) in abject poverty and intense mental and emotional anguish. As harrowing as the story was, it was only just the beginning.

Cult Insanity delves deeper into her story, focusing on the terrifying acts of Ervil LeBaron,, her brother-in-law and a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he had been called to set the house of God in order.

The older brother of Irene’s husband, Verlan, Ervil LeBaron had a zeal for living and teaching that was at first admired but soon took on a sinister tone. Ervil’s ambitions quickly turned lethal when he uncovered a doctrine concerning blood atonement – the act of redeeming a sinners soul by taking his or her life. Seeing himself as God’s Avenger, he used the role as a means to terrorize and destroy those who challenged him.

Irene quickly became enveloped in a dark cloud of fear and anguish. Survival for herself and her ever-growing family turned into a constant flight from one desert camp to another across the harsh badlands of Baja, California. Food was scarce and living conditions abhorrent. Irene didn’t see her husband for months, never knowing if Ervil would make good on his vow to kill him.

I previously read Irene Spencer’s first memoir, Shattered Dreams, My Life as a Polygamist, two years ago and called it one of the best books I’d read all year. While I would recommend that you read Shattered Dreams first, Cult Insanity can easily be read as a stand alone. Where Shattered Dreams focuses more on the intimate details of Irene’s feelings about living life as a polygamist, Cult Insanity dives deeper into the politics of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times and the LaBaron family.

There are a lot of people to account for in Cult Insanity and Irene jumps around a lot in her telling, making the not linear account sometimes a bit difficult to keep track of. But the account that she gives is as the title aptly calls it, pure insanity. Just like Shattered Dreams, I couldn’t put this book down. Shattered Dreams felt a bit more personal to me and thus I liked it a bit more. Don’t get me wrong though, this book was just one bit as interesting and also just as appalling.

Even as I continue to read these types of memoirs, I never cease to be shocked with what kind of behavior goes on behind closed communities. If interested in polygamy and religious extremist groups and wanting to read a personal, firsthand experience about life among the LeBaron group then Cult Insanity is the book for you.

Links of interest: Irene Spencer website, Maw Books review of Shattered Dreams, My Life as a Polygamist, more book blogger reviews. Other polygamist memoirs I’ve reviewed: Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer, Escape by Carolyn Jessop,
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Center Street. August 12, 2009.
Hardcover, 352 pages. ISBN 0446538191
Copy source: Review copy sent from the publisher at my request.
Cult Insanity is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

Maw Books has an affiliate relationship with several bookstores, including Indiebound, Powell’s, and Amazon . When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, Maw Books earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog. There is no cost to you.

Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson, Illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler

Natasha Maw — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:58:59 +0000

Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson and illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler is the biography of Wangari Maathai who won the Novel Peace Prize in 2004 for her environmental activism which included founding The Green Belt Movement which teaches people to take care of the environment by planting trees, recycling, and seeking alternative energy sources. She was the first African woman and environmentalist to receive the award.

Her mother had taught her to revere and love the trees of Kenya. When few girls went to school, Wangari’s parents managed to send her where she excelled in science. She won a scholarship to attend college in Kansas where she learned that a woman could do anything she wanted to. She found her strength as a woman scientist. America had changed her.

When returning to her homeland she accepted a teaching job at the University of Nairobi in a profession were there were very few woman teachers and even less female scientists. But she also witnessed a change happening in Kenya. Trees and the land were being destroyed and so much that the people depended on was lost. Wangari had an idea that started as small as a seedling but that would effect much change in the environment of her country and that was to plant trees. “We might not change the big world but we change the landscape of the forest,” she said.

Seeds of Change is Wangari Maathai’s inspirational story. It is a story of planting more than thirty million trees in Kenya. It is also a story of overcoming and persvering through those who work against you. It is a story of woman’s rights. It is a story of giving back to the Earth when we take too much from it.

To quote the book, “She understood that persistence, patience, and commitment – to an idea as small as a seed but as tall as a tree that reaches for the sky – must be planted in every child’s heart. ‘Young people you are our hope and our future,’ she said.”

An excellent portrayal of Wangari Maathai. And a great reminder that even as an adult, I learn so much from picture books.

Links of interest: Jen Cullerton Johnson website, Sonia Lynn Sadler website, The Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai biography on Nobel Prize site.
Genre: Non-fiction picture book. Approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Lee and Low Books. June 30, 2010.
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 160060367X
Copy source: Review copy sent from publisher.
Seeds of Change is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Homes

Natasha Maw — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:30:15 +0000

So in all honesty it’s been a while since I listened to The Mistress’s Daughter by A.M. Homes. I have discovered (and I suspected this would be true of me) that with two kids in the car it’s probably better for me to have read a book before listening to the audio. I’m just too distracted. I can’t pay attention. Plus, I got really impatient. I wanted to speed things up. Obviously, I can read faster than I can listen to a book and felt like it was taking way to long to get through the book. And again, being honest here, I don’t consider myself “well-listened” when it comes to audio books. Totally new territory for me. I’ve really only listened to the Harry Potter books, which I ADORED in audio. But I had read them previously. Thus enhancing my enjoyment I think. I had never read The Mistress’s Daughter but had it on my bookshelf and when going out of town and pursuing the library thought it would be perfect to listen to while in the car.

It took me weeks and weeks to listen to this very short memoir. I did not like the narrator at all and found myself wincing when I turned the audio back on. Annoyed. Very annoyed. That, of course, hampered my enjoyment. I really wish I had read this book in print instead of having listened to it. But even if I had read it, I suspect that I would have felt slightly annoyed with the book itself as well. I never really connected to A.M. Home’s story which is sad because it’s a memoir. I always hate when I don’t love a memoir because then it feels like I’m discounting the author’s story. It’s their life experience. And I don’t want to dismiss anybody’s life experience as being less than what it is. But it is what it is, and I never connected with her or her story.

In this memoir, author A.M. Homes recounts how she was given up for adoption before she was born. Her adoptive parents won’t tell her anything about her birth, her adoption, or her background. The Mistress’s Daughter is the story of how at the age of thirty, she reconnects with her birth parents and the road she travels in discovering how she is, who her family is and does that knowledge really change who she is? In her case, yes, the family narrative she discovers has a direct correlation with her sense of self.

All her life, she knew that there was some secrecy behind her birth. Her adoptive mother simply wouldn’t give her any answers. It was these answers that she would have to discover for herself. She becomes obsessed with genealogy work on both her biological and adoptive sides of the family. And when her birth mother dies, she hopes to figuratively find her mother in the box of personal effects that she left behind. And in doing so, she hopes to find herself as well.

I really wanted to love this book but found both her story and the narrator annoying enough that I couldn’t embrace it like I had hoped. I never understood the motives that drove the story. Sure, she explained the motives and I knew of them, but I just had a difficult time believing in them. I never felt convinced of the genuineness and truth of the story. And I HATE to say something like that particularly for a memoir because it is her truth. As for me, I simply kept shaking my head and saying, “Really? I just don’t get this.”

This one of those book reviews that I simply wonder if I would be singing a different tune had I not listened to the audio. Perhaps I would have been more apt to receive the story had I not been annoyed by the narrator every time I simply hit the play button. So, moral of the story? Skip the audio for this one and read the book. But even then, I was a bit leary. I’d be curious to hear what others think of it. As for me, The Mistress’s Daughter just didn’t do it for me.

Links of interest: A.M Homes website.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Viking Adult. April 5, 2007
Hardcover, 240 pages. ISBN 0670038385
The Mistress’s Daughter is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope and Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffen

Natasha Maw — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:15:02 +0000

Life couldn’t have been better for the Whiffen family when they welcomed newborn Clay into their lives. Mother Leeann was thrilled that he would grow up closely with his older brother. As any mother does, she has big hopes and dreams for her children and her family. But when Clay is two, he begins to regress, no longer speaks, and develops behavioral problems.

Autism.

It’s a word that Leeann refuses to even say. While she still has big hopes and dreams, they have suddenly shifted to something much more immediate. Each day Clay slips farther into his shell. This is something that she can not ignore or wait out. Through immediate and exhaustive treatment, Leeann fights as only a mother can fight. A fight to reclaim her son before it’s too late. The title of her moving memoir, A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope and Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffen, is aptly named. For it is a fight that she wins. Clays diagnosis is completely removed.

This family’s story however is not as simple as the above description makes it seem. The research that Leeann conducts is overwhelming. The intensive, in-home therapy treatments are not covered by insurance and the $40,000 price tag is a financial strain. Add on top of that the added strain of relationships, friendships and simply on oneself, and the years of treatment are exhausting

In A Child’s Journey Out of Autism, Leeann shares her darkest moments, the lowest of lows, her guilt, worry, sadness, unbelief, and her highest of highs, her determination, strength, energy, and the happiness in reclaiming her son. She writes with such honesty and beauty. Such an important book to read regardless if you know somebody with autism or not. Every child is different and this is just one family’s journey of customized treatment and recovery but it’s a testament to a mother’s love for her child. It is a testament to empowered parents. It is a testament to the joy of a child. To reclaiming that which was once lost.

Watch this short trailer for the book featuring Clay himself and then watch for my author interview with Leeann Whiffen immediately following this post. Leeann lives locally to me and I’ve been fortunate to meet her on several occasions. Reading her book is like discovering a friend that you wish you always had and if it’s not to bold of myself to say, I feel fortunate to now call her one myself.

Links of interest: Leeann Whiffen website, blog and Twitter. More book blogger reviews. Did you know April is National Autism Awareness Month? Check out all my book reviews that address autism.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Sourcebooks. March 1, 2009
Paperback, 336 pages. ISBN 1402218389
Source copy: Review copy
A Child’s Journey Out of Autism is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet

Natasha Maw — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:36:01 +0000

Daniel Tammet, author of Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant was born on January 31, 1979 (just 29 days after myself) which happened to be a Wednesday. And Wednesday’s are always blue. In fact, to Daniel, every number and letter manifests a different color and feel. This ability is called synaesthesia, a condition which I was unaware of.

But this is not the only limit of Daniel’s abilities. He has savant syndrome, which many of us are aware of through Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of Charlie Babbitt in the movie Rain Man. Not only can Daniel Tammet calculate huge sums of numbers in his head but he also can recite the number of Pi up to 22,500 decimal places, and learn languages in mere weeks (he’s fluent in about nine). Daniel Tammet also has Asperger’s, a very high functioning form of autism which unlike Charlie Babbit, allows him to communicate and interact well. This was a skill that he learned to improve with time and practice. It’s this capability that he’s able to give us a glimpse into one of the most rare conditions in the world.

This memoir is a fascinating glimpse into such an extraordinary mind. Our brains are incredible and Daniel has opened himself up to science for study so we may better understand what we, as humans, are capable of. Daniel takes us on a journey through his childhood, his home, family and school life, to embarking out on his own, finding love and creating his own successful business. While the book is certainly factual in nature, a testament to how Daniel processes his surroundings, it was incredibly introspective and honest. I love coming to learn and understand people who are unlike myself, and if you are the same, this is a memoir that you won’t want to miss.

The following video is a 50 minute film, titled The Boy With The Incredible Brain, which is a documentary that he talks about in length in the book. If you don’t read the book, I’d at least watch the film. But I’d recommend both!

Links of interest: Daniel Tammet’s website, more book blogger reviews. Did you know April is National Autism Awareness Month? Check out all my book reviews that address autism.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: Free Press. October 16, 2007
Paperback, 256 pages. ISBN 1416549013
Source copy: Own
Born on a Blue Day is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery by Kathryn Lynard Soper

Natasha Maw — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:41:56 +0000

Ah, book blogs. You have got to love them. They add more and more to my reading list every year. I discovered The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery by Kathryn Lynard Soper when Melissa at Book Nut called the book amongst other things: remarkable, honest, brave, and beautiful. Add on top of that, the fact that Soper lives here in Salt Lake City, my home town, and that’s reason enough to get excited about it.

Kathryn Lynard Soper is the mother of six children and discovers at the birth of her seventh child that something has gone seemingly horribly wrong. Newborn Thomas was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Gone were her expectations of what this child would be and in its place was fear, doubt, and anxiety.

Could I love such a son?

I rubbed my arms and legs with a rough washcloth, determined to scrub away not only blood and sweat and oil, but also doubt. Of course I could love Thomas. I already did. I loved him as I’d loved each of my new babies with a primal strength full and fierce . . .

Yet I knew the bond wouldn’t be enough, not for long. It was instinctual. Even animal. Thomas deserved human love, the delight and appreciation and tenderness one unique person feels for another. I’d never felt this for a person with Down syndrome or any other disability. I didn’t know if I could.

Goose bumps rose on my arms – the hot water was gone. And my time to indulge in weakness was gone. A child waited in a plastic box down the hall, and six more were waiting at home, waiting for security to surround them like a warm mantle, soft yet strong. Waiting for their mother.

The Year My Son and I Were Born follows the first year of Thomas’s life. The writing is raw, stark, and so completely honest. Soper holds nothing back. All of her emotions are laid out for everybody to see. There are highlights and extreme low lights and we, as readers, are privy to it all.

Read this book and watch the video. I dare you to not cry. I dare you. Because it just can’t be done. It can’t.

One of the very best and compelling memoirs I’ve ever read.

Links of interest: Kathryn Lynard Soper website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: GPP Life. March 3, 2009.
Hardcover, 336 pages. ISBN 0762750618
Source copy: Library
The Year My Son and I Were Born is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Natasha Maw — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:25:48 +0000

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer was simply inspiring. One of those books that I knew I would like if I just took the time to sit down with it. And one that I wouldn’t have been aware of had it not been for the book blogosphere.

At the age of 14, William Kamkwamba was forced to drop out of school because his family was unable to pay the $80 school fees. Having a very inquisitive mind and not wanting to fall behind his peers, the library quickly became his best friend. Checking out book after book, particularly books about energy, he would studiously analyze each one. Most were in English, so he would have to infer the text through the diagrams and illustrations.

In 2002, his home country of Malawi was struck with a severe famine which left his family farm devastated and thousands died of starvation. Each day his family ate less and less. But yet with an empty stomach, William continued to study. When he saw his first picture of a windmill, he was blown away. Here was a machine that would use their abdunant natural resource of wind to create energy, thus bringing electricity and running water to his home. With electricity, his family could accomplish more in the evening hours at home and with running water they could irrigate and harvest a second crop.

William foraged for scrap metal, bicycle parts, and other components that he would need to build his own windmill. He received no support from his village or even his family, as they all thought he was crazy. Building the windmill took patience and perseverance but his work paid off. Soon the villagers were all marveling when he began to power his radio and light his home. And what blew my mind away was that he was FOURTEEN! He stuck with this project for months and self-taught himself everything that he needed to know. William blew me away.

The best part about the book is that what could ultimately be a dry and technical read – “How to Build a Windmill 101″ – was a great narrative. I couldn’t put it down. William’s story is a testament of what one person can accomplish if they don’t give up in the face of opposition. It’s also a testament to the thought that with knowledge comes power. And it also reminds me, the Western reader, that electricity is something that I shouldn’t take for granted. When I flick a switch, it’s something that I don’t even think about. The light comes on. But for Williams’ Malawi village, electricity is something that seemed out of their reach. That is, until a fourteen year old boy, changed it all.

Here are a few videos to whet your appetite for the book. This is the first public appearance that William Kamkwamba made at age 19 at TEDGlobal 2007. As he wrote about this event in the book, I really liked to watch this video:

Two years later, he spoke at the same event again. I loved seeing his transformation, his confidence, and his message at the end – “Trust yourself and believe. Don’t give up.”

A Moving Windmills short based on the full-length documentary of the same name, Moving Windmills: The William Kamkwamba Story which is currently in production:

Take the time to watch the videos and let me know what you think. Have you read the book? What was most inspiring to you?

Links of interest: William Kamkwamba website, on twitter, more book blogger reviews. buildOn.org is the charity organization which Moving Windmils project has partnered with to rebuild Kamkwamba primary school. I read this book as part of the water theme for the Social Justice Challenge.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Publisher: William Morrow. September 29, 2009.
Hardcover, 288 pages. ISBN 0061730327
Source copy: Library
The Boy Who Harnessed the Windis available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

Natasha Maw — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:29:12 +0000

Do you know who Claudette Colvin is? You do know that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first person to refuse to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama, don’t you? Read Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose and you will discover this unsung civil rights hero.

In full honesty, I believe it was only last year when I read Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman that I realized that there were others before Rosa Park who were arrested after refusing to give up their bus seat. I know that civil rights leaders were looking for the perfect person to give voice to the injustices that they faced. And although Claudette Colvin was one such person who fought against injustice it was Rosa Parks who rose to visibility while Claudette Colvin not only faded into obscurity but was often shunned and seen as an unfit role model. And this was in despite of the fact that it was the lawsuit and testimony in court that Claudette and others brought against the city of Montgomery that ultimately desegregated the bus system.

In this biography of Claudette Colvin, Phillip Hoose has spent countless hours researching and interviewing Claudette and her family to bring us her story. This is the most complete story and direct quotes that we have from Claudette Colvin and is well worth checking out.

Claudette Colvin was only 15 when she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman. A great reminder that is ordinary people doing extraordinary things who make all the difference.And while her name may have almost been lost in history, it was her actions that had a direct effect on the civil rights movement that changed the south for everybody forever.

Hear from Claudette herself in this video and then check out this informative book which will have you questioning whether or not you would have had her courage:

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month. Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.
>Links of interest: Phillip Hoose website, book blogger reviews.
Genre: Young Adult Non-Fiction
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. January 20, 2009.
Hardcover, 144 pages. ISBN 0374313229
Claudette Colvin Twice Towards Justice is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change by Michelle Cook

Natasha Maw — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:39:14 +0000

Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change by Michelle Cook was inspired by the phrase “Rosa sat so Martin could march. Martin marched so Barack could run. Barack an so our children can soar!”

Each spread highlights key figures in African American history including George Washington Carver, Jesse Owens, Hattie McDaniel, Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall and Barack Obama. Amazing pioneers of change. After reading the book and pouring over the beautiful illustrations, children can read more about each leader at the back of the book. This simple biography will enhance the reading and teach children about those who came before them.

What’s incredible about this book is that each spread is illustrated by a different celebrated African American illustrator. Yes – thirteen illustrators: Cozbi A. Cabrera, R. Gregory Christie, Bryan Collier, Pam Cummings, Leo and Diane Dillon, Ag Ford, E.B. Lewis, Frank Morrison, James Ransome, Charlotte Riley-Webb, Shadra Strickland and Eric Velasquez. I loved how different each spread was but how cohesive the book was as a whole. My favorite illustrations were Jesse Owens by Ag Ford and Martin Luther King Jr. by Frank Morrison.

As the dust jacket aptly says,

Our Children Can Soar is the story of a people rising. It is a story for anyone, for it is one the backs of our ancestors that every child is raised.

I wholeheartedly agree. It’s a special book.

Our Children Can Soar part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month. Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.
Links of interest: More book blogger reviews. Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has a great feature with all the illustrators.
Genre: Non-Fiction Picture Book, Biography approx age 4-8.
Publisher: Bloomsbury. April 14, 2009.
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN 1599904187
Source copy: Library
Our Children Can Soar is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________

The Blue Cotton Gown, A Midwife’s Memoir by Patricia Harman

Natasha Maw — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:12:16 +0000

I have gotten so behind in the number of books that I’ve read but not yet reviewed that I hope you forgive me for failing to write my own summary for The Blue Cotton Gown, A Midwife’s Memoir by Patricia Harman. From the jacket flap:

Patricia Harman, a nurse-midwife, manages a women’s health clinic with her husband, Tom, an ob-gyn in West Virginia – a practice where patients open their hearts, where they find care and sometimes refuge. Patsy’s memoir juxtaposes the tales of these women with her own story of keeping a small medical practice solvent and coping with personal challenges. Her patients range from Appalachian mothers who haven’t had the opportunity to attend secondary school to Ph.D’s on cell phones. They come to Patsy’s small, windowless exam room and sit covered only by blue cotton gowns, and their infinitely varied stories are in equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting. The nurse-midwife tells of their lives over the course of a year and a quarter, a time when her outwardly successful practice is in deep financial trouble, when she is coping with malpractice threats, confronting her own serious medical problems and fearing that her thirty-year marriage may be on the verge of collapse.

The Blue Cotton Gown is one that I enjoyed reading while I was reading it but it’s not one that I flew through either. I would often just read short sections of the book at a time, walk away for a while and then be pulled back for another story. What I liked best about the book were the stories that Patsy would share about her patients. As a nurse-midwife, she practiced more than just medicine, she was a sounding board. Somebody that people felt comfortable confiding in.

While I was drawn into the reminiscing of Patsy’s life, her boys, worry about financial trouble, marriage, and background living on a commune as a hippie, I would have rather read more patient stories and less of Patsy. For some reason when the title said, “a midwife’s memoir” I was expecting all kinds of delivery stories (actually, Patsy doesn’t deliver babies at this time in her practice) and less about the the midwife. Which is crazy. Why would I think this? The book is a memoir. Memoir = an account of the author’s personal experiences. I feel that the fault of my expectations was my own. I don’t know why.

So long story short: the book took me a bit off guard. It wasn’t what I expected. I loved the patient stories. And would have loved even more of them. I liked learning about the practice of a midwife.

The Blue Cotton Gown is a quiet book. Very contemplative. Makes for a thoughtful read but don’t expect to be blown away by it.

Links of interest: Patricia Harman website.
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Beacon Press. October 1, 2009
Hardcover, 296 pages. ISBN 0807072915
Source copy: review copy.
The Blue Cotton Gown is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

__________________________________________________