"Love Water Memory" by Jennie Shortridge / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

From the melting watercolors alone on the cover of “Love Water Memory” by Jennie Shortridge, I was pulled in.  The writing carried me on downstream.

“Love Water Memory” (all without commas) is a wonderful character study.  It was emotional, full of complex relationships, and powerful.  From the first page, we know the main character is standing in the San Francisco Bay with no clue as to who she is.  From that point forward, we walk with her as she rediscovers her old self and we share with her our opinions of who that self is.  Predictably, the old self is not that delightful.  The question then becomes: Will she go back to her old ways or will she swim against the current and make different choices.  As the book nears the end, the reader will be called upon to make that judgment call.  As we go along, though, it is a wonderfully engrossing read as we explore the psychological mystery of who this woman is as well as numerous questions such as: Are we our childhood, or can we rise above it?  What is it that attracts one person to the next?  Can a relationship and a career choice make you want to forget who you are?  How much can one suppress before the heart can finally forget?  Can you trust others?  More importantly, can you ever learn to trust yourself?

I particularly admired the development of the main character of Lucie.  I’ve read and viewed this similar set-up before, but Shortridge does a fabulous job elevating her story above other amnesia/discovery launchpads.  She’s definitely a storyteller to watch.

Clay Stafford

– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker (www.ClayStafford.com) and founder of Killer Nashville (www.killernashville.com). He reviews books daily for Killer Nashville’s Book of the Day. Publishers Weekly has named Stafford and Killer Nashville as one of the top 10 Nashville literary leaders playing “an essential role in defining which books become bestsellers” not only in middle-Tennessee, but also extending “beyond the city limits and into the nation’s book culture.”  (PW 6/10/13)  Having over 1.5 million copies of his own books in print, Stafford’s latest projects are the feature documentary “One of the Miracles” (www.oneofthemiracles.com) and the music CD “XO” (www.jefferdeaverxomusic.com).

---

Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.

Visit our bookstore for other similar books.

If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.

Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!

"The Mothers" by Jennifer Gilmore / Friday, May 10, 2013 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

It is amazing how, when one can’t have children, that one sees children and pregnant women everywhere, hears women getting pregnant who didn’t want to be, hears innocent remarks made by family members that makes the person not able to have a child feel nothing less than a failure for the most basic biological act.

“The Mothers” by author Jennifer Gilmore is an emotional, unfair, and aching look at pain of the most basic kind: a woman wants to have a baby and can’t.

After years of trying on their own, Jesse and Ramon decide to try adoption.  Haven’t we all heard of babies who are waiting for a good home?  What they find is not a happy, fast resolution.  Instead, it is a warped view of insensitivity and people involved for all the wrong reasons: scams, bureaucratic idiocy, cruel thoughtlessness even from those whom one would expect to be supportive.  And all because they simply wanted to have a child.

The characters in this book live through hell.  In adoption, you think of children wondering if someone will want them.  In this setting – same situation, but different perspective – you find parents-to-be wondering if birth parents will want them.  It makes you want to throw up your hands and yell, “What is everyone thinking?  Isn’t this supposed to be about the child?”  This book is at odds with those who say there are too many babies and not enough adoptive homes.  From people I know who have tried to go through the adoption process, I’d have to agree with the perspective and agony of Jennifer Gilmore (who has based this novel loosely on her own personal experience of fighting to become a parent).

At times, this book is painful to read, but even more painful – I am sure – to live.  For many, this is not fiction, but the new 21st Century way to start a family.  Needless to say, this story pulls out the emotion in the reader.

To give a child a home should not be this difficult.  But it is.  The only way to know it is to live through it, or read a book like this.  These people are your neighbors and – though you may not know it – even someone in your family.  For those who want emotion in their novels, you can’t get more basic than this.

Happy Mother’s Day to all who have successfully navigated the journey.  Have a great weekend!

– Clay Stafford is an author / filmmaker and founder of Killer Nashville. Stafford’s latest projects are the documentary “One of the Miracles” and the music CD “XO”.

Buy the book from the Killer Nashville Bookstore and help support a new generation of writers and readers.

Visit our bookstore for other similar books.

If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join our Facebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.

Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!