MY LITERARY WINTER WARMERS

Here are some literary oldies that I’ve been cuddling up with:

·         The Promise by Lesley Pearse (2012): This is a sequel to “Belle”, the initial book which I haven’t read.

Belle Reilly has worked hard to reconstruct her life after unfortunate and shameful events of her past (unfolded in “Belle”).  She is living her dream of being a respected business woman with a loving husband. It’s in 1914 and World War One hits Blackheath in London, threatening to shatter her life and unveil her dark past.

The author masters the art of taking the reader back to Belle in order to understand what shaped this character. She also takes the reader into the First World War, from its battle scenes to its brutal impact on relationships and life in general. It also trails upon how the role of women was viewed by society in that era.

This book reveals that our weaknesses can sometimes be our strengths, depending on our point of view. It trades on the sweet promise of love and the deviant spirit of a determined woman.

This was an enticing read that I recommended for lazy hibernating weekends.

·         Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou (2009): I’ve written about my love and admiration for this writer. After her passing I revisited this book which I had initially read in 2010.

I remembered how I was drawn to it by the synopsis “I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”

As I read it I felt like I was in conversation with her, drinking from her wisdom. She was talking to me like a mother would to her daughter, with conviction and counsel.

In this book Maya Angelou lays her pain and mistakes bear, but importantly, she teaches how she overcame her setbacks.

I would recommend you read and keep this book as a poetic guide to living a meaningful life, to help you rise from your falls and to serve as a reminder of your worth whenever you are placed in a space of compromise.