Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Wonderful." Carolyn See, Washington Post Book World
Review
"Barbara Scot has written a book that many people dream of writing, but few accomplish ferreting out of hidden family stories that all too often hold the keys to our identity." Kathleen Norris, author of Dakota: A Spiritual Geography
Review
"Scot evokes a vivid sense of place in this haunting memoir set on the Iowa prairie." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[An] engaging and graceful memoir....Refreshingly honest....The author sees her voyage into the past as an attempt to understand her mother's brave resolve in the face of public shame. Why, she asks, did this woman remain all her life in a small community, an abandoned wife, an object of pity? But Ms. Scot soon realizes that she is in the midst of unraveling much more than the story of her mother....These moments add up to a quiet confirmation of certain truths: that people are human and thus prone to human weakness, that men have been as oppressed as women in our society and that, despite the difficulties, it is possible to reinvent one's self and even to alter one's personal landscape." Carol Shields, New York Times Book Review