Synopses & Reviews
Through treasured emails, letters, diary entries, and columns, Kathleen Buckstaff re-creates her life as a mother of young children. We follow her as she gets her first big break writing about her children, her husband, and their dog, Rosie, for the Los Angeles Times. Kathleen’s stories hit home with many readers and the Los Angeles Times offered her a sweet deal to pen more columns. Writing with a rare and honest voice, Kathleen shares moments such as trying on foam bellies in a maternity dressing room, her children tricking the tooth fairy, and using chocolate to bribe her mother to babysit. Then, unexpectedly, her vibrant mother becomes ill, and Kathleen must learn how to be a mother to her own mom. Kathleen shows the humor, hard work, insanity, love, and joy that are involved in being a mother and a caretaker.
Review
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THE TIFFANY BOX IS A MOVING TRIBUTE TO MOTHERHOOD - An early chapter of
The Tiffany Box: A Memoir, by Arizona-turned-California author Kathleen Buckstaff, raises the subject of picture day at school. Buckstaff describes her then 4-year-old daughter’s decision to wear a beloved but “tattered, stained sundress” for a photo that will forever document who she was during that year at school. Buckstaff is conflicted. She can’t help being a bit status conscious (“I will look like a bad mother if you wear that dress”) but she also admires her daughter’s spirit and strong sense of individualism. She struggles internally but opts to let it be. Her daughter wears the dress. A similar, courageous act of surrender underlies much of
The Tiffany Box, and is the source of its soul-satisfying charm. Buckstaff, in a series of emails to friends, essays she originally published in
The Arizona Republic, diary entries, holiday letters and drafts she wrote from 1995 to 2001, puts it all out there, pregnancy warts and all. It is a story of loss–of loved ones, of the illusion of control–that never loses sight of the humor, beauty and joy that can accompany life’s most challenging moments. It is a moving tribute to motherhood, and to the bonds between mother and child that transcend time, temperament and even tragedy. It’s been many years since I’ve made it a priority to carve out enough time in a 24-hour period to truly savor a book.
The Tiffany Box left me no choice. From the moment I dove in, I was captivated. The republished essays elicit profound moments of wisdom and generational continuity from seemingly everyday events to which all mothers will relate. Sections where the storytelling is done by email or diary post have a sense of intimacy and urgency that is often painful to read, but leave us wishing we could count ourselves among Buckstaff’s most trusted friends. The book, of course, centers on her relationship with her mother, and the long, slow process of losing her to cancer at the far-too-young age of 59. Buckstaff stored her mother’s papers in her garage, in a blue box from Tiffany & Co. that once housed a celebratory wedding gift. It took some time before Buckstaff felt strong enough to revisit this treasure trove of memories. “I thought I would find death inside the Tiffany box,” she writes. “Instead, I found life." She also found inspiration for a beautiful story that will forever keep her mother’s memory alive. Buckstaff’s memoir premiered as a one-woman play, “The Tiffany Box, A Love Remembered,” at Theatre Artists Studio in Scottsdale in November 2010. She performed the play to sold-out audiences here, and then in San Francisco and New York City. The enthusiastic response inspired her to expand her story."
--Karen Davis Barr, May 7, 2013 from Raising Arizona Kids Magazine
"Kathleen Buckstaff has a big heart and a truth-telling spirit. She spins an intergenerational story about grandparents, parents and children who are glued together by generosity and love. Her book will sweep you to the center of her family’s joys and tragedies... . The Tiffany Box is just plain wonderful."
--Paola Gianturco, author of Grandmother Power
"A beautifully executed exploration of the human heart—its strength, resiliency and infinite capacity to love."
--Hal Corley, Emmy Award winning writer and playwright
"Embracing both her vulnerability and strength, Kathleen Buckstaff reaches into the soul and opens a precious door that brings to life her grandmother’s truth, “You’ve got to touch to love.” In sharing that truth, Kathleen and The Tiffany Box teach us an ultimate truth, “There was so much pain, because there was so much love.” Elegant. Beautiful. Compelling."
--Rev. Doug Huneke, chaplain and author
"Loved this book! I laughed out loud, I cried and even shared passages with my husband. For anyone who has ever been a mother and/or a daughter, this book will touch your soul and stay with you. Kathleen Buckstaff captures the spirit of motherhood, it’s highs and lows, and takes you on a journey that makes you appreciate life and all it has to offer. I highly recommend this book!"
--Jeanine Thompson, mother
“I have never sobbed after reading the first two pages of a book, and I don't think I have ever finished a book and then started reading it again from the beginning right afterwards. I can't remember a time I read a book and midway through ordered 11 copies to give to people that I know would love it... . It is a spiritual, powerful, sentimental, rip-roaring funny, unique, helpful read. I am deeply appreciative of this book, because it teaches me how I can approach end-of-life situations when I am faced with them. There were countless times in this book when I was laughing and sobbing at the same time. Kathleen Buckstaff exhibits mastery of the language, brilliance of mind and wit, and authenticity of the soul.”
--Stephanie Ryder, mother
"[The Tiffany Box] is a book I will always have on my bedside table when I need a good laugh or cry."
--Susan Bull, grandmother
About the Author
Kathleen Buckstaff lives with her husband and three children in the San Francisco Bay area. In addition to writing columns, plays, and books, Kathleen works as a performance artist. With the help of Artistic Director Carol MacLeod, Kathleen wrote a one-woman play using the e-mails, letters, columns and diary entries contained in The Tiffany Box, a memoir.
"The Tiffany Box, a love remembered" opened at the Theatre Artists Studio in Phoenix, AZ on November 4, 2010. Kathleen performed the play to sold-out theatres in Phoenix and San Francisco. She performed the play again in New York City as part of a solo festival and "The Tiffany Box" was honored as one of the most outstanding plays.Kathleen received her BA in English and Creative Writing from Stanford, and her MA in Journalism from Stanford. Her columns have been published in the Los Angles Times, The Arizona Republic, Sun Literary Magazine, and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Short Bio:Kathleen Buckstaff's columns have been published in the Los Angeles Times, The Arizona Republic, The Sun Literary Magazine and The San Francisco Chronicle. She has a BA in Creative Writing from Stanford and a MA in Journalism from Stanford. She lives with her husband and their three children in the San Francisco Bay Area.