An agreeable memoir about a psychic in suburbia.
The memoir of a woman whose “women’s intuition” verges into the supernatural.
“I’m a registered nurse,” writes Devlin at the opening of her nonfiction debut. “I’m a rational-health practitioner with a solid career.” But, she goes on: “I’m also a person who’s had psychic experiences since I was a little girl.” Devlin maintains that contrast in a low-key way throughout her book, which abounds with everyday examples of her exercising what she at one point calls “the power of our inner knowing.” This knowing isn’t the type that addresses spiritual realms, which is so popular with psychic memoirs, but is based in the material world. The author believes that we have collectively lost sight of the value we once placed in intuitive abilities and feels that most people possess these abilities but don’t realize it—and certainly haven’t been schooled in their use. The book’s clear prose and preponderance of well-told anecdotes—always mixing just the right amounts of drama and humor—make it an easy, enjoyable read no matter how skeptical readers may be. Devlin’s anecdotes won’t convince the disbelievers, however. She relates an instance where she had an intuitive flash of a crashing tree, inspected the nearby trees on her regular walk, spotted one pulling against the ground in a wind, and warned the people in the adjacent house just before the tree crashed onto their roof. “I felt proud that I’d followed my intuition and possibly saved a life or two,” she writes. This may be read as a story about the author seeing an uprooted tree and warning those in danger rather than a moment of clairvoyance. It and countless other stories are given their import mainly by her own personal contention that “there are no coincidences.” Readers who think there are coincidences may find their patience strained at times even by so personable an author.
An agreeable memoir about a psychic in suburbia.Pub Date: July 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-80844-3
Page Count: 200
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2017
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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