This volume recording one family’s history should strike a responsive chord among those caring for aged loved ones.
The six offspring of a Vermont couple celebrate their parents’ devotion to family, religion, and a rigorous work ethic in this debut memoir.
When Jeannette and Bob Clavelle died two years apart after a marriage of more than 60 years, they had little of monetary value to pass on to their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. But they left behind a rich legacy of love, honor, and strong family ties. Both parents—who were Roman Catholics—were descended from French Canadians who immigrated to Winooski, Vermont, in the early quarter of the 20th century. The American Woolen Mill provided jobs and security for the working class, and Winooski became a bilingual, French Canadian enclave. The siblings grew up surrounded by two sets of loving grandparents and within the arms of a tight community. Bob, who co-owned a grocery store, was an outgoing charmer. He was never wealthy but always generous. He also had a serious problem with alcohol for a good part of his adult life. The bulk of the narrative focuses on Bob and Jeannette’s later years, after retirement, when they began to endure the vagaries of old age. There are many trips to the hospital, the rehab center, and finally the nursing home. Although the workmanlike account is weighed down with details of illnesses, there are some touching passages that involve Bob tirelessly caring for Jeannette at home. The authors also pepper the memoir with some lighthearted anecdotes, such as Bob’s struggles with a computer his kids bought to keep him connected with “modern” life. He complained that his email wouldn’t work after he “set up” his passwords: “When I try to type them in, all I get is a string of asterisks.” The most heart-rending sections—and yet in some ways the most helpful to those who are dealing with aging family members—present the elaborate details of trying to ensure the well-being of parents who have been fiercely independent throughout their lives and now need the help of others.
This volume recording one family’s history should strike a responsive chord among those caring for aged loved ones.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4834-5835-9
Page Count: 196
Publisher: Lulu
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after...
Self-help advice and personal reflections on avoiding spousal fights while raising children.
Before her daughter was born, bestselling author Dunn (Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask, 2009, etc.) enjoyed steady work and a happy marriage. However, once she became a mother, there never seemed to be enough time, sleep, and especially help from her husband. Little irritations became monumental obstacles between them, which led to major battles. Consequently, they turned to expensive couples' therapy to help them regain some peace in life. In a combination of memoir and advice that can be found in most couples' therapy self-help books, Dunn provides an inside look at her own vexing issues and the solutions she and her husband used to prevent them from appearing in divorce court. They struggled with age-old battles fought between men and women—e.g., frequency of sex, who does more housework, who should get up with the child in the middle of the night, why women need to have a clean house, why men need more alone time, and many more. What Dunn learned via therapy, talks with other parents, and research was that there is no perfect solution to the many dynamics that surface once couples become parents. But by using time-tested techniques, she and her husband learned to listen, show empathy, and adjust so that their former status as a happy couple could safely and peacefully morph into a happy family. Readers familiar with Dunn's honest and humorous writing will appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at her own semi-messy family life, and those who need guidance through the rough spots can glean advice while being entertained—all without spending lots of money on couples’ therapy.
A highly readable account of how solid research and personal testing of self-help techniques saved a couple's marriage after the birth of their child.Pub Date: March 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-26710-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.
Ruminations and reminiscences of an author—now in his 70s—about fatherhood, writing, and death.
O’Brien (July, July, 2002, etc.), who achieved considerable literary fame with both Going After Cacciato (1978) and The Things They Carried (1990), returns with an eclectic assembly of pieces that grow increasingly valedictory as the idea of mortality creeps in. (The title comes from the author’s uncertainty about his ability to assemble these pieces in a single volume.) He begins and ends with a letter: The initial one is to his first son (from 2003); the terminal one, to his two sons, both of whom are now teens (the present). Throughout the book, there are a number of recurring sections: “Home School” (lessons for his sons to accomplish), “The Magic Show” (about his long interest in magic), and “Pride” (about his feelings for his sons’ accomplishments). O’Brien also writes often about his own father. One literary figure emerges as almost a member of the family: Ernest Hemingway. The author loves Hemingway’s work (except when he doesn’t) and often gives his sons some of Papa’s most celebrated stories to read and think and write about. Near the end is a kind of stand-alone essay about Hemingway’s writings about war and death, which O’Brien realizes is Hemingway’s real subject. Other celebrated literary figures pop up in the text, including Elizabeth Bishop, Andrew Marvell, George Orwell, and Flannery O’Connor. Although O’Brien’s strong anti-war feelings are prominent throughout, his principal interest is fatherhood—specifically, at becoming a father later in his life and realizing that he will miss so much of his sons’ lives. He includes touching and amusing stories about his toddler sons, about the sadness he felt when his older son became a teen and began to distance himself, and about his anguish when his sons failed at something.
A miscellany of paternal pride (and frustration) darkened by the author’s increasing realizations of his mortality.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-618-03970-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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