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SACRED SPACE

Name: SACRED SPACE
Author: Leslie Lee
ISBN: 978-0-9915022-0-2

PINE HOLLOW

by Leslie Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 11, 2014

Nonprofits will likely be compelled to further explore Lee’s glorious gathering space after experiencing this book.

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Architecture, photography and poetry meet in this grandiloquent paean to a lakeside home.

Inspired by childhood memories of Northwest Lower Michigan, Lee (Backcountry Ranger, 1994, etc.) contracted architect Roger A. Hummel to design the house of her dreams on seven pristine acres on the Lake Michigan shoreline in the idyllic village of Elk Rapids. Seven years later, the magnificent 17,000-square-foot home, dubbed “Pine Hollow,” was complete. Ultimately, Lee decided to donate the beautiful, beloved structure to an organization she founded called “Pine Hollow Institute,” which hosts retreats for nonprofit organizations—particularly those with environmental concerns. This exuberant celebration of the home in all its glory combines a poem, written by Lee, with breathtaking, full-color photographs of the house and grounds. The ambitious verse, repeated in its entirety at the end of the book, is somewhat trite, beginning with Pine Hollow’s ancient history: “I still can smell crustaceous salt / and pause in reverie as images of life / remind me of ancestral versions of myself.” The verse is more vivid when describing the place itself, in concrete detail: “A white oak tree beside the creek, roots deep in soil, / then pillars up, with mirrored branches arching out / to bind the shadows of the Earth to heaven’s sun.” Fans of architecture and lovers of Better Homes and Gardens will enjoy the house’s earthy beauty. A photograph of descending stairs between stone walls is particularly memorable. The designers brought the feel of the rock-dotted shoreline indoors by using local, natural stone, along with Michigan white oak timber posts and beams designed to withstand the test of time. Several well-placed windows also allow the natural world inside. The opulent library, in which thick leather chairs sit below towering bookshelves, is similarly impressive, and a deck with an expansive view of water, clouds and trees provides an inviting outdoor space. Although not a poetic tour de force, Lee’s romantic vision shines through with panache, and her philanthropic spirit and love of Pine Hollow are undeniable.

Nonprofits will likely be compelled to further explore Lee’s glorious gathering space after experiencing this book.

Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-9915022-0-2

Page Count: 117

Publisher: Leslie Lee Publisher

Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HOLE MADE BY A WATERFALL
by Leslie Lee

- BOOK REVIEW
SIX DEGREES OF LATITUDE: TRAVEL TALES OF SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
by Leslie Lee

- BOOK REVIEW
LESLIE'S FIELD GUIDE TO IRELAND
by Leslie Lee

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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.