Customer Reviews

Beyond Borders: Portraits of American Women from around the World

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As an American woman who has traveled to numerous countries, I can relate to some of these inspiring women. For women who want to better understand the dichotomy between how we are perceived and how we have the power to change perception, I highly recommend this book.

Americans abroad are usually in a peculiar situation. Most of the time, we are respected because we are perceived to be wealthy, powerful, can bring help and support to countries around the world and friendly. But we are not necessarily liked because we tend to be perceived as loud, brash, insensitive, and used to getting our own way. Recently, it's the second view that has prevailed unfortunately. This book is very inspiring and positive because it highlights in a beautiful and sensitive fashion all the good that these american women have contributed to their new homes and how they got themselves integrated into environments that were foreign at one time. I strongly recommend this to women and men alike, as examples of american profiles of courage.

This is a really beautiful book that has been wonderfully created to show the work of a diverse collection of American woman across the world. The photos are superb and the essays inspiring. I think it would be a fantastic addition to anyone's library and would make a great gift for a friend or loved one. Well done to all those involved, especially My-Linh Kunst for her fabulous photos.

I received this book in the morning mail. I sat right down, ignoring everything I had to do that morning and read it cover to cover. It is absolutely amazing. I feel so inferior to those women. It has made me look at my expat life more closely. I would recommend this book to every woman.

The certain mettle that enables a person to leave the comfortable environs of home and venture overseas is hard to pin down by simply looking at a face: it takes the eye of an artist to capture the square of the jaw or the set of the shoulders to understand the uniqueness of an expatriate woman. Perhaps it is because both the photographer and the writer of Beyond Borders themselves are world habitors, living a large extent of their American lives abroad, that we can share a glimpse of some remarkable people in a this observant photography volume. Ordinary women at first glance, deep and multi-faceted at closer perusal, this book is a sublime success in understanding the dimension and potential of a just a few of 6 million US citizens living outside America. Open your eyes to this inspiring odyssey.

I have lived most of my adult life as an American abroad in various countries. In each of these places I have met extraordinary American women quietly doing wonderful things. This book gives credit to a handful of these women in a beautiful way through pictures and text. This book should show everyone back home that it is these citizens who are the best ambassadors for the U.S.

What a wonderful idea to publish a book featuring American women from around the world. It is about time to recognize the good deeds of our women living abroad. Our better halves have often been misunderstood by the people in the countries where they take up temporary residence and indeed by our own people living at home.
With this book MyLinh has made a great contribution to fill this gap of misunderstanding of our women living overseas. The photographs are beautiful anš the writing is excellent. The design and printing are of unexcelled quality.
This book deserves to be prominently displayed on your coffee table as it has already adorned mine. It can also be a much appreciated gift to friends and family.
NL Nguyen, Fairfax, Virginia

This wonderful book shows the ordinary and everyday people just how dynamic and persuasive American women can be when they see a good cause. The 30 women profiled in this book have the strength and determination to make things happen for a better world. These women, captured with the stunning photography by My-Linh are the inspiration for any expatriate woman, regardless of age or race.

Heartfelt congratulations on your magnum opus and contribution to the celebration of "ordinary" women's lives - often richer in depth, structure and experience than those we are exposed to in celebrity popular culture and certainly invisible in mainstream histories!
It is true that a sense of exile and aloneness can often nourish inner life and bear exquisite fruit. MUST READ !

This book is what I call "Chicken soup for the soul". Or should it be "Chicken soup for the tired and sick soul". If you have ever tasted as much defeats as myself you would want to keep this piece of work on your nightstand. Reading about these women gives me so much hope and strength everytime I feel down and beaten. These women remind me of my mom, my aunts Ngan and Lan Phuong who are the pillars of strength in my family. My mom for her courage, strength and especially her ethics during the tough times. My aunt Ngan for her continued support of her serial entrepreneur nephew. And my aunt Lan Phuong, one of the most successful Vietnamese American businesswomen of my times, for her words of wisdom "If you fail, get up and try again. Keep on trying until one day you'll hit it big". Not much different than Barbara Cocchini's advice of "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again".
This book can not come at a better time.
As a self taught portrait artist myself I can really appreciate the black and white photography.
Thanks, My-Linh, for a great piece of work.