REVIEW: FALLING APART IN ONE PIECE

falling apart in one piece -  one optimist's journey through the hell of divorce
by Stacy Morrison
(Pages 239)
Release date:  March 24th

First of all, thank you to Michelle at Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC of this book!

This is a story about Morrison's journey through divorce.  She is the successful editor-in-chief of Redbook Magazine, but even while she is soaring in the publishing world her personal life is doing a severe nosedive with no ejection seat in sight.  One day out of the blue her husband announces that he is leaving her and that he can't stand living with her, and he then moves out and leaves her and her infant son to deal with the crumbling house and flooding basement.

Okay, if I'm going to be honest here, I would say that this is not a book that I'm going to rave about.  Stacy Morrison is a good writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style.  And the first part of the book where she describes her idyllic home life and the details of the day her husband suddenly tells her he is leaving her, are all beautifully written.   And the rest of the book really has its moments, but it's a lot of the same stuff just retold.  I have personally been through a divorce, I had no kids at the time, so I could relate to much of what Morrison was saying.  Especially the part where she was getting super pissed off that people wanted her to whittle down the reason for her divorce into a short concise message.  I used to say after my divorce, that it was not something a person could just summarize in one sentence.  And this is what Morrison was saying.  And she also points out that when people are asking that they aren't necessarily asking about you, they are asking, "do I see myself in here?  Is MY marriage okay?".  The one thing I will say that is a big positive about Morrison's book is that she definately can look long and hard at herself and at a situation and be brutally honest.  I appreciated all of her soul searching as I have been there myself.

Now, the thing I didn't like about it was that Morrison seems like an energy vampire.  You know what I mean?  There are some people in life that seem to suck the energy from people they are near, and I sensed that even from her writing.  I could be way off, but at the very least her book sucked the ever living life right out of me.  About 1/2 way through I was thinking to myself, "Girl, get a therapist!"  And then not one page later did she say that she had already been seeing a shrink for the past decade.  The majority of the book was very draining to read.  Like that person in your life that always has the same problems for years and obsessively talks about the same things over and over until they have finally driven their last friend away with their continuous woes.  I felt a huge amount of relief when I reached the end!  So sad, really.  This is the only reason I am rating it a "2".  Otherwise it would have probably been a "3", but I just could not deny the fact that it was completely exhausting to read.  I think people who have been through divorce will, at the very least, be able to really relate to everything she went through on the outside and more importantly the journey into herself.  It goes to show that divorce does not care if you are a successful business woman hobb knobbing with celebrities, it will still kick your ass just as hard as someone who works at a convenience store.... to that end we are all very much made of the same stuff...fragile and yet with powerful wings to lift us up out of our own misery --- God willing.

RATING:  2/5

REVIEW OF NOVEL "THE SIGN FOR DROWNING"

The Sign for Drowning by Rachel Stolzman

Rachel Stolzman's debut novel is beautifully written and taps into everyone's need to connect with someone outside themselves; healing past wounds in the process.

The Sign for Drowning is about Anna, a woman who has grown up haunted by her younger sister's death.  Keeping the world at bay, she delves into the world of sign language at first as an imaginary way to communicate with her sister, and later it will bring into her life Adrea.  Adrea is one of the deaf students at the school for deaf children where Anna works,and quickly Anna discovers that for the first time since her sister's death somone has access to her heart. 

What follows is Anna's journey into her past where she faces the devestating memories of her sisters death.  With Adrea's complete innocence and need for a mother, Anna may find the balm to finally soothe her wounded spirit.  If only she could find the courage to let the young girl in.

This book really touched my heart, and just LOOK at the COVER!  Georgous, right?  Stolzman's knowledge of American Sign Language and the culture of the deaf community resounds as a very sturdy backdrop for this story.  It renewed my interest in learning ASL, and the descriptions of the signs in the book are very easy to visualize. The book takes you through Anna's life in a gentle way and allowing you to experience her healing through the unconditional love of a little girl.  It also touched me on the adoption front as well.  Our youngest daughter is adopted, and there were several sections where I was nodding my head in agreement to some of the feelings Anna shared towards her daughter in respect to her being adopted.  FANTASTIC! 

I highly recommend this book!

You can read more about Rachel and her work, and to request a possible phone conference with the author for your reading group!  Click here.

And don't forget to watch for her interview in the coming days, and for our giveaway of a signed copy of her book! 

Stay tuned for my upcoming interview with Rachel and a giveaway of a SIGNED copy of her book! 


RATING:  4/5