Customer Reviews

Any Given Day: The Life and Times of Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nobody who reads this book will ever feel overworked or under appreciated, in quite the same way again. We have it so much easier today; and complain MORE !! My Mother is nearing the age of this remarkable woman, and we are hoping to get her to write her memories for us too; before they fade from her mind. She has been reluctant to start, due to the fact that she is not a professional writer. For her birthday this year, Mom is getting a copy of this book; and an audio tape, to listen to, and hopefully get inspired. My Mother has been a Nanny, earned a Master's Degree in Education, driven a Taxi and Limos for Official at United States Steel(during WW II), made bombs in a munitions plant, ridden Harley-Davison motorcycles, served as a Missionary for her church (where she met and married my Father), taught elementary school, raised two daughters, and still babysits their various off spring, while making beautiful quilts. Please God, let Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux give her the courage to tell us all about her adventurous life, too!!

Jessie Lee's incredible memory and stoically poingnant style take us all back in time, beginning with her childhood which was poor in material possessions but rich in love. Through her eyes, we see not only her family history but the history of a burgeoning nation unfold. She meets life's difficulties head on, from the untimely death of her mother to a difficult marriage and single parenthood. Her words do not plead for sympathy, just straightforwardly relate her amazing life and times. This is a must read for scholars of the 20th century and for those with a bent for human interest stories. Jessie Lee's voice is one of the precious few left from her generation.

I was very touched by this book. The open, honest way it is written makes it a personal favorite. Reading Ms. Foveaux's memories was like listening to my own grandmother and her friends talking, as they did so many years ago. This book brings you closer to your family and reminds you what wisdom there is in our older generation.

Jessie Lee has, in the simplest of prose, given us a glimpse into the life of an "average" woman. Her life is not filled with exotic trips or dinners with Presidents, but with the struggles of everyday life. Her rocky marriage to an alcoholic will give inspiration to many young women of today. Her memory is incredible and details abound of a life that began at the beginning of this century...this is an interesting book to read as this century comes to an end.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm from Kansas and she talked about areas that I'm familiar with. I felt she did a very good job telling her story about the hell she went through with her alcoholic husband while raising her many children virtually by herself. I would like the opportunity to meet this wonderful woman.

Jessie Foveaux's spritely style makes for easy reading in this memoir of a little girl's life in the small town midwest just after the turn of the century.

This courageous, articulate woman stitched together words in a literary quilt of family, friends and vistas. Any Given Day covers an era from country isolation to computer connections.

With skill like she possesses with her tatting shuttle, Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux weaves an intricate, unforgettable lace stretching from times past through WWII.

She dreams of becoming a teacher, a missionary. The man she loves dies a victim of the First World War. She "settles" for the handsome, persistent suitor who becomes the domineering father of her eight children. When life with him becomes unbearable, she does the unthinkable and divorces him. She rears her children and perseveres to win not only the community's respect, but her own self esteem.

Some of the final chapters were so personal, addressed to her descendants, that I first thought th

Kind of interesting to think this book was ever even mass published in the first place. I'm sure everyone loves a scrap of family history from a beloved grandmother and that is indeed the nature of this book.

The story lover in me is pleased with this. Mrs. Foveaux lived an interesting life in a world now rarely glimpsed. She overcame trials, she dealt with people, and she rose all above it. There's much inspiriation in this story as well as that lovely aura of down-home goodness.

But it's not the most quality book one could find. It was written for her descendents, which means there isn't much in the way of the artful bits for which readers look.

It's a good and thoughtful read, but should be recognized for what it is.

For women of any age, valuable information on the lives of our grand mothers, the place of women in society, and the long way we have traveled to reach our freedom.
Enter a real family setting, with valuable information about psychological and cultural values, seemingly lost today.
A demonstration of love and devotion from a mother born a free spirit.

Almost ten years ago, I was reading the Wall Street Journal and saw a story about this woman who was approaching 100 years old and was just listed as a top author. Her story intrigued me---taking a community writing class and being encouraged to finish the story. I HAD to buy her book. It DID NOT disappoint. I felt as if I was right there with her as she described her young adult life and all the challenges she faced, how she perservered to overcome them. A beautiful story!

I picked this book up at the local library, as I was looking for a different book on the same shelf where this book sat. Ms Foveaux writing is direct and no nonsense just as I believe she must have been. Read it for a realistic view of what life was like for most people in this country not that long ago. It helps shed light on what made our parents and grandparents tick. Their lives were more difficult and yet their lives seemed happier in many ways. The significant role family played is not her overriding theme but it comes across loud and clear. And since the average family size has decreased so much in the last couple of decades and we now often live so far away from our extended families, we really are no longer able to identify with this way of life here in the U.S. We're the poorer for it.