"My sons lived at different times in the same womb, and their lives spiral around one another, as flexed and fluid as the self-embracing curl of an embryo." In finely wrought prose, Powning (Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life) looks back on the birth of Tate, her first child, who was stillborn nearly 25 years ago. Although she had a second son, Jacob, she never forgave herself for a fall while cross-country skiing during the last weeks of her pregnancy with Tate, and never truly mourned him. This is not, however, an ordinary therapeutic memoir. Powning focuses her considerable writing ability on probing the life she has built with her husband, Peter, whom she married when she was only 19. In their early 20s, the two emigrated to Canada and bought a farm that has challenged and strengthened them. Although they have a solid marriage, Powning has at times envied Peter's dedication to his successful pottery business and resented her role as his assistant. Over the years, she has struggled to find her own creative voice (after one particularly galling rejection from a publisher, she gave up writing for years). After Jacob was born, both she and Peter were consumed by the joys of parenthood; the author later home-schooled Jacob for two years. When persistent dizziness and recurring nightmares prompted Powning to see a therapist, she began unraveling the grief she still carried for Tate. Anyone who has experienced the loss of a child will relate to Powning's painful and healing search for meaning in his death. Agent, Aaron Milrad. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Powning (Home: Chronicle of a North Country Life) opens this intimate, richly detailed autobiography with descriptions of her idyllic childhood in rural Connecticut, where she discovered her artistic nature, and then moves on to her decision, as a young woman, to give up her aspirations of studying in Europe and becoming a writer and marry her college sweetheart instead. They buy a farm in New Brunswick and live off their land and the income from Peter's ceramics business. Then, the story's central focus becomes the prolonged and suppressed grief and guilt over the loss of her first pregnancy, but, in a broader sense, it also stands as a commentary on modern-day womanhood: the conflict between fulfilling the traditional roles of daughter, wife, and mother at the expense of realizing one's own identity and dreams. Meanwhile, Powning skillfully chronicles her personal metamorphosis as she learns to accept herself and penetrates the complexities of relationships in family and community. This superbly written book dealing with core life issues would be a welcome addition to all libraries.
-Annette Haines, Central Michigan Univ. Libs., Mount Pleasant
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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