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A Deeply Personal and Honest Telling of One Woman’s Journey Navigating Life’s Challenges

 

This book was a fantastic read.  The author tells her tragic and inspiring story with a poetic grace and honesty that keeps you enthralled.  I loved experiencing her story through the astute eyes of her childhood and that the format follows the ebb and flow of memories.  I found her unique and deeply personal experiences of adversity to be thoughtful and courageous in the telling.  There is something in this autobiography for many readers . . . for women, for survivors, for learners, and for those seeking to better understand themselves as they face life’s many challenges.

 

Abbey H.

United States

A Handful of Raisins in an Otherwise Empty Room
A Journey from Tragedy to Joy

 

Transcendent!

 

Michèle’s journey is inspiring — as I read the book (in one sitting!) I was highlighting passages and cheering “YES!”  Transcending and transforming and neutralizing violence is something not every human being can do. Michèle has embodied her dauntless heroine's journey with hard won maturity, creativity and compassion.

Laurel Felice

Ojai, CA       

She Sings a Song of Herself -- and Does So Beautifully

Goethe once said that there was no such thing as an uninteresting life and Michèle Misino de Luca's memoir -- a sort of travelogue of one's life's path -- is a testament to that very fact.  This is neither a tell-all book nor a morality tale but (and perhaps, unintended) a celebration of life itself.  Here we have the story of a woman who, while growing up, found herself navigating the maelstrom of hurdles, roadblocks and gloom that one associates with families caught up in that dark web of poverty and addiction, and yet from that experience (with all the baggage that goes with it) learns NOT so much to turn lemons into lemonade as much as being driven to turn lemons into adventure.  And from her story we see -- through her eyes -- the beauty and wonder of life being lived as she narrates those experiences that impelled her to summon within herself the creativity and courage to meet, survive, overcome share and honor those challenges that befall many of us -- and doing so in sometimes unique, sometimes heart-breaking, sometimes amusing, and always, in engaging ways.  This is not a perfect book, but that, in itself, is part of the charm -- adding to the spiritual beauty that manifests and overcomes whatever imperfection one might see.  For those of you out there who are hearing that inner voice revealing to you the gift that life truly is and yet find yourself lacking the courage to do something about it, read this book.  No doubt the richness and beauty of spirit that emanates from within yourself when living such adventure will, as it obviously has for Michèle, be worth it.
 
                                                                                                           
 J. Fry
Sonoma, CA

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