From the Flood

Blurb:

It’s the summer of 1972, when six-year-old Suzanne Jones and her siblings are whisked away from their home in the middle of the night, never to return again. Hurricane Agnes has triggered a devastating flood that destroys the family home and business. Suzie and her family are then set on an exhausting yet exhilarating four-year journey to build back their lives.

Suzie bounces from one quirky family member to the next before she and her family settle into a government-provided trailer for the next two years. When Suzie and her family meet a community of kids and their free-thinking parents living in the other trailers, their lives are changed forever.

This tale of loss, love, and discovery, told through the eyes of a child, is at times laugh-out-loud funny and at others deeply poignant. Chock-full of 1970s nostalgia, Suzie’s story is a delightful trip down memory lane for those who lived through the decade and a vibrant illustration of life in the ’70s for those who did not.

From the Flood teaches us that even the most difficult life circumstances provide unexpected gifts.

Thoughts:

The book is about the author's experience during Hurricane Agnes and the ensuing flood that destroyed everything. It also tells you about the years after it when her family and community had to slowly rebuild it all.

Jones describes the fear everyone experienced during the hurricane and the excitement of the new lives they were creating for themselves from a child's perspective. That she can remember so much from that time reveals the extent of the impact the flood had on her life. Despite being from a child’s point of view, the chronology and descriptions of the events are quite clear.

The book is enjoyable because Jones’ childhood is interesting and unusual. She writes with dry self-deprecating humour, whether it be about her father’s stoic persistence, her mother’s emerging interest in feminism, or the idiosyncrasies of her family and friends.

Jones and the group of children around her witness glimpses of serious issues, such as the women's liberation movement, homosexuality, teenage pregnancy, and domestic violence. They do not understand much of these; their reactions to them are delightfully innocent!

Although From the Flood is a memoir written in a child’s voice, it is anything but childish. It is a charming book about what must have been a chaotic period, devoid of any melodrama or verbose descriptions. 

Note: I received an advance review copy from BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

Wild

Blurb:

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone.

Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Thoughts:

I had read Torch and some essays by Strayed. I was looking forward to reading Wild.

In Wild, Strayed tells you how her life unravelled after her mother’s death. Her family scattered. She sabotaged her marriage to a man she loved. She started using heroin.

A loved parent’s loss is not uncommon. People deal with it all the time. However, she couldn’t accept the loss and went on a path of self-destruction. It is understandable—she was just 22.

She heard about the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). She decided to backpack through it in the hope of healing herself. Her preparation was at best haphazard. She often comes across as idiotic, impulsive, and self-absorbed.

However, Wild is not a how-to book about backpacking, hiking or dealing with parental loss. This is the story of Strayed dealing with her grief and facing her demons.

I liked her writing. It is stark, frank, and unpretentious.

At 22, anchorless and unsettled, wandering off into the wild to find relief—I think this is part of the book’s charm. In time, she is able to accept certain things and let go of others. The hike through the PCT seemed to have served her purpose.

Work Hard, Not Smart

Blurb:

At the ripe age of forty, when Alexis Paige was finally diagnosed with ADHD—Inattentive Type, she rolled her eyes even before the doctor could finish spelling out her new marching orders: The goal now, he said, is to learn how to work smart, not hard.

But that doesn’t sound like any fun, she said. She was going to have to do this, too—ironically, inexplicably, comically—as she did everything else, the hard way.

Part memoir, part craft guide, Work Hard, Not Smart, shows how Alexis lives her messy literary life. She invites you to step into her mismatched shoes. And if you do, you’ll find the writing companion you’ve been looking for.

Thoughts:

Page has written a witty and insightful craft book. It tells you that not all writing runs according to schedules or deadlines. It is a testament to how messy life can be, how far thoughts can wander, and how fleeting success and contentment are. In short, it shows that writing is complicated.

She uses examples from her life to discuss

• learning and teaching writing
• navigating the murky waters of writing for a diverse audience
• dealing with incarceration, assault, rejection, and impostor syndrome
• writing the story despite (or because of) all the problems and obstacles in your path

Although the blurb says part memoir, part craft guide, in many places it reads like a thesis on other people’s essays and books. The book is full of thoughts that go off tangent and confuse you until they are herded back in to be connected somehow. Page also uses complicated words and jargon, which prompts you to leave the book and search for them.

Having said that, I loved the book. I may read it again.

Note: I received an advance review copy from BookSirens for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

From A Wonky Path To An Open Road

Although I had set out to read memoirs in 2020, this book was not on my list. I did not even know that Janey de Nordwall existed. Thanks to BookSirens, on whose list of memoirs this book showed up. They gave me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
And boy! Was this a pleasant surprise!
Nordwall is dyslexic. She was written off as ‘lazy’ and ‘thick’ by some. However, she overcame a lot of obstacles and went on to become a BAFTA-winning film producer.
In this book, she describes her trip to Scotland with her cat Kenny in her 1970s VW campervan. She intersperses her exciting, and often hilarious, adventures with important incidents from her life. Just as her experiences showed her, I too believe that you can find good kind people in unexpected places.
I am not supposed to drive and may certainly not travel alone on such a long journey. However, I love reading such memoirs. I felt as though I was with Nordwall on this journey. The cat Kenny also delighted me.
Overall, a delightful book!