Diarylike reminiscences of a lost love that range from mundane to moving.
In her emotional debut memoir, Yeasting tells the painful story of losing her fiance to cancer.
Why would a lively, attractive woman begin dating a terminally ill man she didn’t know? According to Yeasting, Michael Chu was easy to love. After meeting on a dating website, the two fun-loving Canadians instantly clicked. Michael was open about his terminal lung cancer, and Yeasting decided to accept a future broken heart and get to know him. The couple quickly became “soul mates” and spent more than a year together, living life to the fullest. They had a lot in common, including a love for travel, and visited beautiful places together, like Hawaii and the Dominican Republic. Yeasting’s love remained steadfast as Michael’s health faded, and when an additional tumor was discovered in his brain, she was there for him throughout the successful surgery. A two-time divorcée, Yeasting had been hesitant to remarry in the past, but when Michael proposed, she eagerly said yes. Unfortunately, he died in hospice care before they could marry. Much of their relationship is told via sugary love emails reprinted here (the book unfortunately repeats email addresses, etc., for all digital communication). In fact, along with email headers, the memoir could cut many unnecessary details, including dinner plans. However, Yeasting’s voice is honest and likable. She unblinkingly reveals the good (she was there for Michael when he could no longer walk) and the bad (she stormed out after an argument) aspects of her strong personality. Writes Yeasting, “I am old-fashioned but with a twist and a dash of spice.” Though the subject is somber, the black-and-white photos serve to lighten the tone. The book spans several years after Michael died, and the author plumbs her grieving process. Written as a form of self-therapy, Yeasting’s bittersweet account may comfort others who are grieving.
Diarylike reminiscences of a lost love that range from mundane to moving.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-6747-9
Page Count: 306
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: March 31, 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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