A useful, sometimes-inspiring guide to finding Mr. Right.
Heaven will answer the unwillingly single woman’s prayer, according to this reassuring, no-nonsense self-help book.
Rainford-Bourne (The Maternal Glow, 2009), an OB-GYN and a relationship columnist for the South Florida Times, promises readers that God has a plan for their marital bliss if they approach the matter with a modicum of common sense, self-awareness, and a willingness to be open to what comes along. She advises women to make a list of traits that they want in a husband and decide which points are ironclad and which they can compromise on; to get out there and meet men at parties, church, jazz clubs, on the Internet, and on blind dates; to let friendship grow before love blossoms; and not to dismiss a possibility if he doesn’t immediately click. She offers guidelines on how to spot good husband material, with tips on how to distinguish “dogs” and smooth-talking operators from promising prospects who just need to mature. She also emphasizes that it’s important for a woman to find someone with whom she gets along well and who lets her be herself. Although the author is warmly enthusiastic about marriage, she eschews gauzy romance; instead, she warns readers to “take your heart out of it and use your head” when mulling a marriage proposal, to avoid imagining that they can change a man, and to reconcile themselves to a husband’s inevitable faults because they will “multiply ten times over” as time passes. Rainford-Bourne delivers her advice in well-written, engaging sermonettes interspersed with vignettes that she’s gathered from women who tell of blissful wedlock as well as harrowing divorces. She also draws from her own experience of searching intently for a husband as her mid-30s loomed, finally landing one with whom she started a happy family. Her thinking is infused with Christian themes—one section, for example, discusses the advantages and challenges of remaining a virgin until marriage—but she wears these principles lightly and treats the imperfections of relationships sympathetically. Readers will find a wealth of practical wisdom here as well as an energizing pep talk.
A useful, sometimes-inspiring guide to finding Mr. Right.Pub Date: April 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9864316-0-9
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Whittingham House Maryland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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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