by Vaughn Davis Bornet ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 9, 2015
A well-curated, if sometimes-repetitive, compilation.
Bornet (Speaking Up For America, 2011, etc.) collects many of the love letters that he exchanged with his late wife during World War II.
This book chronicles a long-distance romance that began blossoming between two young people in 1944. Bornet was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, serving as the fleet air barracks officer at the naval air station in Alameda, California. Beth Winchester was a sorority sister and the senior class president at the University of Nevada, Reno. The two had known each other for only two weeks before they struck up this correspondence, but they’d already seen enough in each other to wonder whether they might be soul mates. Over the course of their communications, the two fostered an intimacy that blossomed into a deep love: “You swept into my life suddenly and altogether without warning,” wrote Bornet to Winchester in the very first letter, dated August 11, 1944. Things moved quickly after that: they were married that December, and by the following May, the young woman wrote a letter back to “a husband whom I adore; and now almost certainly our first child is coming. Surely no child has ever been born with more love behind it than ours will.” Bornet, now 98, collects 153 letters out of the 209 that he and his wife exchanged over a 13-month period, in order to document the evolution of a relationship that would last nearly seven decades. In addition to their romantic content, the letters simultaneously provide an engaging look into the time period that they cover, highlighting the concerns that both civilians and military personnel had for their futures during a war whose outcome was far from certain. The present-day Bornet also helps to guide readers through the exchanges, providing context for different sections, explaining omissions, and giving some background regarding the lives of the two correspondents. There’s a certain redundancy to the letters at times, and on the whole, the book isn’t as gripping as some other collections of wartime missives. But overall, this work gives readers a pleasant, inspirational look at young lovers in a bygone era.
A well-curated, if sometimes-repetitive, compilation.Pub Date: July 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-54372-6
Page Count: 310
Publisher: DVS Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
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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