by Margaret Cornell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 5, 2013
Well-written memoir covering the founding of an unconventional church that might not appeal to the majority of Christian...
Cornell’s debut memoir recalls her and her husband opening their home while finding their own ways to worship and spread the Gospel.
Born to unconventional parents in London, Cornell grew up with a love of the dramatic arts and surrounded by a world of séances and spiritualism. As a young woman, she rushed into marriage with an equally unconventional young man, only to see it end in disaster. “How could I have been so foolish as to ignore good advice from wise people or even to ignore the truth in my own heart?” she says of that first marriage. But from that moment, she found herself drawn to the church in a new way. Soon, a friend introduced her to handsome Tony, and she was once again caught in a whirlwind engagement, this one with much better results. After Cornell experienced the presence of Jesus in her room, Tony also felt personally moved by the Holy Spirit, leading the two on a search for more charismatic and interdenominational experiences than those provided by the Anglican Church. They extended these more “Spirit-filled ministries” and philosophies into their own home by opening it up to an unmarried pregnant woman, a struggling teenager, and a nurse’s family. Finding fulfillment in such openness, they soon purchased a larger abode, Sunbury House, which they opened to a variety of those in need. “In Sunbury House,” Cornell writes, “supernatural answers to prayer became the norm.” However, it was not until tragedy struck with the death of Cornell’s oldest son, Philip, that Sunbury House began to expand into a full-fledged ministry, taking them abroad and touching more people in need. Just as their particular style of worship and biblical interpretation stirred up controversy with locals accustomed to Anglican teachings, some Christian readers might take issue with Cornell’s experiences and stances. Her belief that her own sin, and perhaps even inviting her parents into her home, led to the death of her son may be a difficult idea to relate to or understand. Additionally, the many divine experiences might seem a bit too easy; God sometimes responds to her questions out loud and plainly, which can feel far-fetched rather than spiritual. Nevertheless, the book’s prose is clear and elegant, and in the end, readers will appreciate the couple’s dedication to their religion and to helping others.
Well-written memoir covering the founding of an unconventional church that might not appeal to the majority of Christian readers.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4525-8401-0
Page Count: 274
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by Jennette McCurdy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 9, 2022
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.
Awards & Accolades
Likes
15
Our Verdict
GET IT
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
The former iCarly star reflects on her difficult childhood.
In her debut memoir, titled after her 2020 one-woman show, singer and actor McCurdy (b. 1992) reveals the raw details of what she describes as years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra. Born in Los Angeles, the author, along with three older brothers, grew up in a home controlled by her mother. When McCurdy was 3, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she initially survived, the disease’s recurrence would ultimately take her life when the author was 21. McCurdy candidly reconstructs those in-between years, showing how “my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me.” Insistent on molding her only daughter into “Mommy’s little actress,” Debra shuffled her to auditions beginning at age 6. As she matured and starting booking acting gigs, McCurdy remained “desperate to impress Mom,” while Debra became increasingly obsessive about her daughter’s physical appearance. She tinted her daughter’s eyelashes, whitened her teeth, enforced a tightly monitored regimen of “calorie restriction,” and performed regular genital exams on her as a teenager. Eventually, the author grew understandably resentful and tried to distance herself from her mother. As a young celebrity, however, McCurdy became vulnerable to eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and unstable relationships. Throughout the book, she honestly portrays Debra’s cruel perfectionist personality and abusive behavior patterns, showing a woman who could get enraged by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. At the same time, McCurdy exhibits compassion for her deeply flawed mother. Late in the book, she shares a crushing secret her father revealed to her as an adult. While McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, she’s managed to spin her harrowing experience into a sold-out stage act and achieve a form of catharsis that puts her mind, body, and acting career at peace.
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982185-82-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Share your opinion of this book
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
by Ta-Nehisi Coates ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 8, 2015
This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.”
Awards & Accolades
Likes
21
Our Verdict
GET IT
Kirkus Reviews'
Best Books Of 2015
Kirkus Prize
winner
New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
Pulitzer Prize Finalist
National Book Award Winner
The powerful story of a father’s past and a son’s future.
Atlantic senior writer Coates (The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, 2008) offers this eloquent memoir as a letter to his teenage son, bearing witness to his own experiences and conveying passionate hopes for his son’s life. “I am wounded,” he writes. “I am marked by old codes, which shielded me in one world and then chained me in the next.” Coates grew up in the tough neighborhood of West Baltimore, beaten into obedience by his father. “I was a capable boy, intelligent and well-liked,” he remembers, “but powerfully afraid.” His life changed dramatically at Howard University, where his father taught and from which several siblings graduated. Howard, he writes, “had always been one of the most critical gathering posts for black people.” He calls it The Mecca, and its faculty and his fellow students expanded his horizons, helping him to understand “that the black world was its own thing, more than a photo-negative of the people who believe they are white.” Coates refers repeatedly to whites’ insistence on their exclusive racial identity; he realizes now “that nothing so essentialist as race” divides people, but rather “the actual injury done by people intent on naming us, intent on believing that what they have named matters more than anything we could ever actually do.” After he married, the author’s world widened again in New York, and later in Paris, where he finally felt extricated from white America’s exploitative, consumerist dreams. He came to understand that “race” does not fully explain “the breach between the world and me,” yet race exerts a crucial force, and young blacks like his son are vulnerable and endangered by “majoritarian bandits.” Coates desperately wants his son to be able to live “apart from fear—even apart from me.”
This moving, potent testament might have been titled “Black Lives Matter.” Or: “An American Tragedy.”Pub Date: July 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8129-9354-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Ta-Nehisi Coates
BOOK REVIEW
by Ta-Nehisi Coates ; illustrated by Jackie Aher
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More About This Book
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.