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SECRET STORMS

Name: SECRET STORMS
Author: Julie Mannix von Zerneck
ISBN: 978-0-9857358-0-7

A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER, LOST THEN FOUND

by Julie Mannix von Zerneck Kathy Hatfield ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2013

A dually narrated, uplifting tale on overcoming profound adversity.

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In this heartwarming dual autobiography, actress Mannix and her daughter, Kathy Hatfield, recount the saga behind a separation of more than 40 years that began when Julie was forced to give up her newborn baby for adoption.

Mannix was 19 when she gave birth, but in the more conservative moral climate of the 1960s, since she was unmarried, she was forced to give up her baby. The married father deserted her; her parents turned against her; and, with the connivance of a doctor, committed her to a mental institution on a flimsy pretext. Strength of character pulled her through, and after being released, Mannix took the first steps in her movie career. All the time she pined for the child she had given up. Julie later reconciled with her parents and married her lover, producer Frank von Zerneck, who had since divorced his wife. Kathy was brought up by loving foster parents and only found out in her teens that she was adopted. Kathy later married, and after her stepfather died, she set out to find her biological parents. The debut autobiographers alternate in telling the stories of their lives right from early childhood, which reads almost like a fairy tale but which is resoundingly true. Mannix’s life in the Philadelphia institution, and her insights into the patients’ lives there, bring out the bleakness of institutional life, particularly shock therapy. She led a life apart from the rest of the world; on the day the world was transfixed by JFK’s assassination, she was being transferred between hospitals. A particular strength of the narrative is the two distinct styles of writing; each author states her own point of view simply, without embellishment. The reunion is similarly understated, which makes the meeting even more poignant. Shining through both narratives is goodness and the power of the human spirit.

A dually narrated, uplifting tale on overcoming profound adversity.

Pub Date: April 17, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-9857358-0-7

Page Count: 338

Publisher: Blue Blazer

Review Posted Online: March 1, 2013

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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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.