From Publishers Weekly
Before Kidd gained national attention with The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair, she spent 12 years writing spiritually themed pieces for Guideposts and other magazines. Forbes reads this collection of early works with just enough Southern twang to make it authentic to Kidd's own Southern heritage. Her smooth and fluid reading catches the inflection and drama of Kidd's work, which is compiled not chronologically but in 13 sections (such as "Solitude"). These stories range from the year she lived in Africa, meditations on her childhood and her grandparents, to reflections on her marriage and on "a stream of common moments." The unifying theme is moments that opened her heart. Listeners will savor Kidd's thoughts and words, which overflow with richness drawn from her roles as writer, mother, wife, nurse and fellow traveler on a spiritual journey.
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Before her phenomenal success with the novels
The Secret Life of Bees (2001) and
The Mermaid Chair (2005), Kidd wrote inspirational stories, spiritual meditations, and personal essays for
Guideposts, an interfaith magazine founded by Norman Vincent Peale.
Firstlight collects these early writings for the first time. In the introduction, Kidd recalls with quiet amusement the day in 1978--her thirtieth birthday--when she calmly announced to her husband and two children that she was going to be a writer. In hindsight, she refers to this as her moment of "great absurdity . . . a hope so extravagant it seems completely foolish and implausible." Studying nursing at the time, she knew nothing about creative writing or whether she could write. To prove her seriousness, she enrolled in a writing class, and to her amazement, her first assignment was accepted by
Guideposts. The pieces collected here are thoughtful, moving, often luminous meditations on faith, family, death, and love; on compassion, solitude, and grace. Fans of Kidd's novels and of inspirational writing will appreciate them.
June SawyersCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
