MADNESS, ADDICTION & LOVE

Name: MADNESS, ADDICTION & LOVE
Author: Lilly White
ISBN: 978-1-4602-9339-3

by Lilly White ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 2016

An earnest attempt to share hard-won lessons about addiction, mental illness, family relationships, and the power of love.

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This memoir by a spiritual coach reflects on a life full of hardship and offers insights to readers who may be struggling themselves.

White (365 Ways to Power Up Your Life, 2015, etc.) reports her experience as a Reiki master, a Trinity Table meditation facilitator, and lecturer. She also recounts the challenges that she faced, especially in her younger years, from addiction and family dysfunction; she also tells of her recovery from alcoholism and offers a host of psychological and spiritual reflections on intense periods of difficulty, including dealing with the suicides of her daughter and brother, a house fire, and her own health issues and debt. The memoir often has a diarylike quality, sharing courageous details of painful experiences as well as the author’s reflections on her own oversights and regrets. The book is difficult to follow at times, however; for instance, the narrative begins mentioning regular trips to Bali without providing any cohesive background on how or why this practice started. It also refers to “archetypes” exhibited by the author or those in her life—such as knight, athlete, Goddess, child, or warrior—without providing a comprehensive context for readers unacquainted with them. Late in the book, she devotes several pages to gluten sensitivity and related concepts without any prelude, although she eventually shares her opinion that she, her daughters, and her mother were all profoundly affected by difficulties with gluten and/or sugar. That said, White does succeed at encouraging openness regarding mental illness in families and in society, noting that such illness is, to some extent, part of every person’s experience. Her 30-day challenge for mind, body, and spirit at the end of the book also offers straightforward suggestions for reflection and renewal.

An earnest attempt to share hard-won lessons about addiction, mental illness, family relationships, and the power of love.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-4602-9339-3

Page Count: -

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2016

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.