by Trudy Chiswell ; illustrated by Trudy Chiswell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2019
A delightfully happy account best enjoyed by those who know the author.
A writer recollects her transformation from a cautious, unconfident woman into a successful, self-assured one.
Debut author Chiswell grew up the youngest of three daughters, an “introvert” like her father and a “gentle soul” like her mother. When she was a “passive” teenager not quite 19 years old, she married her first husband, Jim, a union that was a “disaster from the day of the wedding.” Three years later, the mother of two children and desperately unsatisfied with her life, she finally suffered an extreme bout of melancholy diagnosed as chronic depression. But after she divorced Jim and married Ralph, a remarkably encouraging husband, she experienced an “incredible transformation” that would continue for the rest of her life. A self-described “late bloomer,” Chiswell went back to school at 42 and underwent a kind of intellectual awakening—she once considered herself a “dummy” but discovered she had an undiagnosed learning disability and actually possessed above-average intelligence. She earned a 12th grade certificate and, before she turned 50, she had a college diploma in graphic arts production. When she turned 60, she started her own medical software business, which she later sold. The author endearingly describes the way in which finding God—she became a born-again Christian—gave her the strength to overcome obstacles to happiness that once seemed insurmountable: “The storms of my life had pummeled me at times. There was emotional debris scattered all around me, but I had faith there was an end to it and then the sun would come out.” Chiswell’s remembrance is both touching and inspirational—she candidly details her struggles, but maintains an indomitably cheerful tone. Her prose is straightforwardly intimate and anecdotal and always lucid, if sometimes prone to clichés—she likens her depression to being covered by a “wet blanket.” But her story, while sweetly positive—the book is filled with poems and the author’s hand-drawn illustrations—is unlikely to grab the attention of an audience beyond those acquainted with her. Her story is too irreducibly personal to appeal beyond that circle.
A delightfully happy account best enjoyed by those who know the author.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5255-5766-8
Page Count: 162
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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