Synopses & Reviews
Even before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at thirteen, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father and a long-suffering mother in the insulated Polish Catholic community of upstate New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Susan Wittig Albert calls Off Kilter a splendid first memoir about the difficult business of finding balance in our lives. Funny, honest, deeply moving, Off Kilter reminds us just how hard it is to adjust to the physical pain, the emotional loss, and even the surprising beauty of being fully who we are.
Synopsis
Growing up in the 1950s was not Ozzie & Harriet and Father Knows Best for Linda C. Wisniewski. Unlike the characters on her favorite TV shows, Linda learned to be quiet, atone for the sins of others, and just plain suffer as a way of life. Only when she came to terms with her Polish Catholic heritage, her physical deformity, and her widowed mother did she find inner peace and the keys to her own happiness. Readers of Angela's Ashes and The Joy Luck Club will enjoy this mother-daughter saga from sorrow to love. Author Susan Wittig Albert calls Off Kilter "a splendid first memoir about the difficult business of finding balance in our lives. Funny, honest, deeply moving, Off Kilter reminds us just how hard it is to adjust to the physical pain, the emotional loss, and even the surprising beauty of being fully who we are."
Synopsis
Born to a cruel father and a long-suffering mother in an insulated Polish-Catholic community, the author learns martyrdom as a way of life. "Off Kilter" shows her learning to stretch herself, as well as her spine, as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture.