This book is written beautifully, the words flow smoothly, and ... the poetic influence shines through. Every word has its place in the narrative and I have no hesitation in awarding it five stars. A really, great read. -- Lucinda E. Clarke, Readers' Favorite
It is the gift of a lifetime. Nothing I have ever read has affected me more deeply or made me more thankful that I am alive. You have made your place ... just up the road from here, into your place on earth. And you have welcomed us - all of us - into it: into your house of the spirits. Through your book, you have made it ours. The voice in the book is constant. Faithful, I should say. Abiding. It reminds me of the wind in the high trees I heard at my cabin for thirty years. And yet it is grounded - freighted. It carries something else, which it is not: something like the "sound of the mountain" .... The sound in the quiet under everything. You have delved into the scarcest moments and found the Abiding. Something as fundamental as fire - and earth and water and air. As death and love, as death and love and death and love again. -- Mike Martin, writer and artist
As I read my heart breaks and re-forms and breaks again.....what a book. -- Lyn Warren, owner of Les Yeux du Monde Art Gallery
I was so deeply touched by this memoir. Anyone with children or aging parents will be moved by this searingly honest story. Ann struggled with infertility at the same time she was trying to care for her mother with Alzheimer's. In a clear-eyed way, she explores how her family navigated the suffering caused by her mother's illness, and her own heartbreak of multiple miscarriages. Every sentence is beautifully crafted, with a poet's attention to detail. The images are indelible, and in the end, the reader is completely uplifted by love and hope. -- Lisa Kline, award-winning author
Ann Campanella experienced a decade of tension about her mother's failing health and her difficulties carrying a baby full-term….As an award winning poet, Campanella brings her creative abilities of insight and turn of phrase to her work….I was honored to serve as a witness to Campanella's tenderly told story." -- Karen Austin, The Generation Above Me blog
...at the heart of Ann Campanella's book lies the universal heartbeat of the human experience: love, dreams, suffering, hope, and tragedy. What Ann offers through the artistry of her words is a model of faithful perseverance. This is a beautifully written story that inspires me on my own journey--precisely what I need. - Pat Conley, Episcopal Priest
I was so touched by this memoir and the play of poetic words that even months after reading it, I cannot get the experience of the author out of my mind. Sitting between the loving loss of a parent and the eventual birth of her own daughter (that took her years to conceive and give birth), I found myself in tears over the journey and love that exudes throughout the pages of this finely crafted memoir. For those of us losing parents or have lost parents and hanging onto the love for as long as we can, this book brings hope to the human condition. Each time I see a downturn with one of my parents, I remember so much of what the author went through and feel relieved that I, too, am not alone in some of the same experiences. Her journey has been my salvation; her daughter's birth my hope. - Gilda Morina Syverson, author of My Father's Daughter: from Rome to Sicily (a memoir)
As I've contemplated my review of Motherhood: Lost and Found, a quote keeps coming to mind. Although I am not exactly sure who said this, the quote says, "we read to know we are not alone", and that is exactly how you'll feel when you finish this book - "I'm not alone."
Ann's memoir is about her struggle to become a mom while simultaneously dealing with her mom's debilitating descent into Alzheimer's disease. If you can identify with either of Ann's struggles, or God forbid both, you will feel that you've been on a journey with a warm companion, someone who offers encouragement, strength and compassion....However, you need not experience either of these situations in order to benefit from the reading of this beautifully written memoir. We all are a part of humanity, with all of its pain, brokenness and fragility, and we are strengthened and encouraged when we share our stories with one another; there is comfort in the sharing and the knowledge that we are not alone in the struggles of this life....Her writing is poignant; she writes with a vulnerability and honesty that I've rarely seen, and it is both beautiful and heart warming. I could hardly put this book down until I finished it, and I warmly recommend it to you. - Traci H.
Through her beautifully written book, Ann Campanella has given shape to sadness and sorrow, and has emerged in joy. Ann was facing a series of miscarriages while her mother was sinking into dementia. Finding her way through the maze of the medical community, the support groups, and competing ideas from her own family was difficult. She finds hope and strength as she focuses on her horsemanship, her writing group, and the love of her family. Thank you, Ann, for using your words to honestly explore situations many of us face but struggle to manage without guilt. -- Jane P.
It is the gift of a lifetime. Nothing I have ever read has affected me more deeply or made me more thankful that I am alive. You have made your place ... just up the road from here, into your place on earth. And you have welcomed us - all of us - into it: into your house of the spirits. Through your book, you have made it ours. The voice in the book is constant. Faithful, I should say. Abiding. It reminds me of the wind in the high trees I heard at my cabin for thirty years. And yet it is grounded - freighted. It carries something else, which it is not: something like the "sound of the mountain" .... The sound in the quiet under everything. You have delved into the scarcest moments and found the Abiding. Something as fundamental as fire - and earth and water and air. As death and love, as death and love and death and love again. -- Mike Martin, writer and artist
As I read my heart breaks and re-forms and breaks again.....what a book. -- Lyn Warren, owner of Les Yeux du Monde Art Gallery
I was so deeply touched by this memoir. Anyone with children or aging parents will be moved by this searingly honest story. Ann struggled with infertility at the same time she was trying to care for her mother with Alzheimer's. In a clear-eyed way, she explores how her family navigated the suffering caused by her mother's illness, and her own heartbreak of multiple miscarriages. Every sentence is beautifully crafted, with a poet's attention to detail. The images are indelible, and in the end, the reader is completely uplifted by love and hope. -- Lisa Kline, award-winning author
Ann Campanella experienced a decade of tension about her mother's failing health and her difficulties carrying a baby full-term….As an award winning poet, Campanella brings her creative abilities of insight and turn of phrase to her work….I was honored to serve as a witness to Campanella's tenderly told story." -- Karen Austin, The Generation Above Me blog
...at the heart of Ann Campanella's book lies the universal heartbeat of the human experience: love, dreams, suffering, hope, and tragedy. What Ann offers through the artistry of her words is a model of faithful perseverance. This is a beautifully written story that inspires me on my own journey--precisely what I need. - Pat Conley, Episcopal Priest
I was so touched by this memoir and the play of poetic words that even months after reading it, I cannot get the experience of the author out of my mind. Sitting between the loving loss of a parent and the eventual birth of her own daughter (that took her years to conceive and give birth), I found myself in tears over the journey and love that exudes throughout the pages of this finely crafted memoir. For those of us losing parents or have lost parents and hanging onto the love for as long as we can, this book brings hope to the human condition. Each time I see a downturn with one of my parents, I remember so much of what the author went through and feel relieved that I, too, am not alone in some of the same experiences. Her journey has been my salvation; her daughter's birth my hope. - Gilda Morina Syverson, author of My Father's Daughter: from Rome to Sicily (a memoir)
As I've contemplated my review of Motherhood: Lost and Found, a quote keeps coming to mind. Although I am not exactly sure who said this, the quote says, "we read to know we are not alone", and that is exactly how you'll feel when you finish this book - "I'm not alone."
Ann's memoir is about her struggle to become a mom while simultaneously dealing with her mom's debilitating descent into Alzheimer's disease. If you can identify with either of Ann's struggles, or God forbid both, you will feel that you've been on a journey with a warm companion, someone who offers encouragement, strength and compassion....However, you need not experience either of these situations in order to benefit from the reading of this beautifully written memoir. We all are a part of humanity, with all of its pain, brokenness and fragility, and we are strengthened and encouraged when we share our stories with one another; there is comfort in the sharing and the knowledge that we are not alone in the struggles of this life....Her writing is poignant; she writes with a vulnerability and honesty that I've rarely seen, and it is both beautiful and heart warming. I could hardly put this book down until I finished it, and I warmly recommend it to you. - Traci H.
Through her beautifully written book, Ann Campanella has given shape to sadness and sorrow, and has emerged in joy. Ann was facing a series of miscarriages while her mother was sinking into dementia. Finding her way through the maze of the medical community, the support groups, and competing ideas from her own family was difficult. She finds hope and strength as she focuses on her horsemanship, her writing group, and the love of her family. Thank you, Ann, for using your words to honestly explore situations many of us face but struggle to manage without guilt. -- Jane P.