Lifesaving Lessons

Lifesaving Lessons

Amazingly for a Maine book reviewer, I had never picked up,
never mind read a book by Linda Greenlaw. I have no idea why. Maybe
her subject matter, in my mind real life adventures in deep sea
fishing, left me cold. But when I saw her latest, Lifesaving Lessons:
Notes from an Accidental Mother the cover alone had me hook, line, and
sinker. Which is a darn good thing. That is one powerful, authentic,
and thought provoking book.
Anyone familiar with Greenlaw will know that when not out to sea
she calls Isle au Haut, a rugged Maine island with a very small year
round population, home. It's a close knit community where people know
what there is to know about each other. Except not always. When a
truly disturbing secret comes to light, a teenager is sepearted from
her uncle and placed in Greenlaw's home.
This is quite the challenge for a woman who makes a living in
the demanding professions of deep sea fishing and writing. At first
it's a time limited commitment. But when Greenlaw discovers her
charge needs emotional nurture as well as safe haven she decides she's
in for the long haul. Fortunately her island community is there to
support her in this. It is anything but easy to help a victimized
young woman heal and grow strong while working to bring her abuser to
justice.
I could not put Lifesaving Lessons down except when cat or
family members demanded to be fed. I highly recommend it. When you
pick your summer book list don't let it be the one that got away. ;)
As for me, I'll go back and check out Greenlaw's earlier writing.
Julia Emily Hathaway
On a personal note, I hope you all are having an amazing 4th of July
weekend. I surely am. I'll start with the first event: the parade.
I started off watching near where it started with the hubby. We must
have been in a Republican enclave. They cheered Governor LePage.
Didn't fault them for that. But when the democrats were walking by
they acted like Stephen King's Cujo had appeared. It aggravated me
into taking a sign and joining the parade. I had a fine time working
the crowd. As we got closer to Bangor we got lots more love. I
wondered if my hubby would find me after, especially since I'd
forgotten my cell phone. You can find out what happened...
...if you read my next review. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all the fine folks who marched in
the parade with me.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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