Generous Stories
Library Column by Gail Hedstrom – Library Director
The gift of sharing a personal story can be very generous. Writing down your personal experience for others to read is a risk. It creates vulnerability. An author willing to share the details of their life, a portion of their life, or experiences are, for the most part, being generous and trusting. I say, for the most part, because I don’t think that’s true for all memoirs, but when you find that gift of someone allowing themselves to be vulnerable, you recognize the author’s generosity in sharing their story.
“The Book of Separation” by Tova Mirvis is a generous gift. The author shares her journey of self-awareness that led to her leaving the Orthodox Jewish Community in which she was raised and her marriage. Mirvis shares her journey of ending something to begin something else. The fear, the vulnerability, the doubt. What does it feel like to miss the first Passover observance with your family? Mirvis is an excellent writer and as you learn about her struggle you will also learn about the Orthodox traditions she was raised with. I first read Tova Mirvis about 25 years ago with her fiction book “The Ladies Auxiliary” which is a personal favorite. I recently read her book “Visible City,” a work of fiction about what we see and don’t see in our communities, relationships, and lives. Mirvis has a new work of fiction “We Could Never,” released earlier this year.
When I think about books demonstrating an author’s generosity in sharing a personal story, I think almost immediately about Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking.” Didion so bravely gives readers an insight into the grief she experienced after the sudden death of her husband, John Dunne. Joan and John worked together on books and scripts during their 40-year marriage. Didion shares parts of their personal and professional lives, and she shares her despair. If this sounds sad, it is because it is heart-wrenching. But it is simultaneously insightful and validating. Didion is the author of fiction, essays, screenplays, and novels. When asked who my favorite author is, I most often cite Didon.
Isabel Gillies” book “Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story” actually shook me a bit. I wasn’t expecting to feel like Gillies was a personal friend; I wasn’t expecting to be as devastated about her husband leaving her as I was. As her seemingly perfect life started to disintegrate, and she seemed to have no agency to save it, I was devastated for her. This book will stick with you. Gilles finds humorous anecdotes amongst the sadness and demonstrates relatable humanity and vulnerability. Isabel Gillies is the author of “A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story,” and “Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World.”
“I’ll Drink to That: A Life in Style with a Twist” by Betty Halbreich is a delightful read and well-titled. Halbreich worked as a personal stylist for Bergdorf Goodman for more than 40 years, working into her 90s. Halbreich dressed the rich and famous as well as the not-so-rich or famous. She loved her work and was not impressed by wealth but rather by hard work. While you will read about designers and celebrities, you will also read about Halbreich’s childhood, mental health struggles, physical health issues, and her difficult marriage. Halbriech is likable and funny, and she is no-nonsense. You may also enjoy her books, “No One Has Seen It All: Lessons for Living Well from Nearly a Century of Good Taste” and Secrets of a Fashion Therapist. Halbriech passed away just last year at the age of 96.