A heartfelt, engaging account of how an adventurous bike trip rejuvenated a relationship.
A debut memoir examines self-discovery and marriage—through a bicycle trek around the world.
The problem that opens Rosen’s book was that while she still loved her husband, Mike, she found that she was no longer “in love” with him. “We had become acquaintances instead of lovers,” she admits of their marriage. The two met early in life—at age 18—and were on the brink of divorce when the outdoorsy author proposed a globe-trotting expedition on bikes to rekindle their struggling relationship. After 11 years together, they embarked on an ambitious cycling trip that took them from the Mojave Desert to New Zealand and Tibet. After renting their Winnipeg home, getting the appropriate shots, spending hours researching bikes and racks, and—finally—quitting their jobs, they began their journey, starting in the “golden prairie of Manitoba.” Initially, the couple’s strained relationship took center stage. Where Rosen was daring and committed to outdoor pursuits, Mike was staid and generally more interested in watching television. At first, the pair’s “bike-fixing skills” were rather limited: “But we could both now patch a tube and lube our chains. The rest, like our relationship, we figured we would learn as we travelled.” The trip became a metaphor for their relationship and a chance for the author to pursue a “new way of life” while “focusing on being happy in the moment.” Along the way, they sampled local customs (such as a high school football game in Overton, Nevada) and suffered dog attacks and flat tires. Rosen’s work is satisfying both as an intriguing memoir and vivid travelogue. In Colorado, the couple skinny-dipped in a hot springs. And in Vietnam, they visited the site of the My Lai Massacre: “We knelt at gravesites beneath the Bodhi trees in the empty village.” The author offers thoughtful descriptions of local scenery—in Ouray, Colorado, “the wind kissed the tops of white-barked aspens”—and heartfelt discussions of interpersonal dramas. At more than 300 pages, the book is probably longer than it needs to be, but Rosen and her husband make for enjoyable company throughout.
A heartfelt, engaging account of how an adventurous bike trip rejuvenated a relationship.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77160-315-7
Page Count: 328
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2019
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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