DESIREE, THE MUSIC OF MY SOUL

A widow adopts a Hurricane Katrina rescue dog and begins a journey of self-discovery.

Race captures her love of canines in this memoir. The author grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, where she learned to drive a tractor, assisted her parents with harvests, and cared for the animals. She didn’t have a dog until adulthood, when she adopted a Labrador puppy she named Shiloh, who died of a terminal disease at less than 1 year old. Race endured more heartbreak in her romantic relationships. She and her first husband, Brad, clashed over parenting styles for his sons from a prior marriage. After the author and Brad divorced, she became the legal guardian for his younger son, Dan. Race began a passionate relationship with Terry, a lawyer and former Marine, whom she married. They enjoyed hiking, bike riding, and walking their dogs, Dakota and Jilly, but their marriage was cut short when Terry died unexpectedly. The forlorn author took a “volunteer-based vacation” at an animal sanctuary in Arizona, where she adopted Desiree, an Australian shepherd mix, who was rescued in New Orleans shortly after Katrina. Race became determined to learn more about Desiree’s past and traveled to the Crescent City. After extensive research, she contacted Desiree’s first owner, Shakima Harper, who expressed gratitude to the author for giving the dog a happy life. Race vividly describes the sense of purpose that emerged when she first met Desiree: “Meandering through the sandy soil of the trail on the heels of a young rescue pup, I felt the dark clouds of my past opening to a bright blue hue for the future.” Even in dark moments, her prose has a lively pulse. Unfortunately, the memoir can be overly sentimental—each chapter begins with a letter to Desiree, for example, who died after a long and healthy life—and sometimes feels overwritten. (About a third of the book takes place before the author meets Desiree.) But readers will undoubtedly enjoy Race’s passionate and inquisitive nature, which is palpable on every page.

A rambling but heartfelt account about finding a canine who desperately needed a home.