A Not-So-Ordinary Book Discussion
STORIES OF STRENGTH IN SOLITUDE WRITTEN BY TIFFANY KILLOREN
Books are like movies; sometimes we want to laugh and other times we reach for a story that makes us grab a cozy blanket and cry into our ice cream. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, some embrace the holiday with all of its hearts and romanticism, while others shy away from a day that can make loneliness all the more pronounced. A firm believer that any love has to start from within, I’m dedicating this month’s column to stories about inner strength amidst isolation. Leaving equally-profound impressions, the following books (one fiction and two non) are stories of quiet strength and lives robbed of their potential. These stories will touch your heart for reasons unrelated to conversation hearts and Cupid’s bow. If you want to embrace the quiet in these cold winter days, curl up with the following and your favorite blanket. Oh, and go ahead and grab that ice cream.
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SIMPLYkc MAGAZINE
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FEBRUARY 2022
What She Left Behind (Ellen Marie Wiseman, 2013) Some books just hit you hard, and this one left a longstanding impression on me. A story within a story, this novel travels backand-forth between a young girl struggling to come to grips with a family tragedy who unknowingly opens the door to memories in an abandoned asylum. Long ago, another young woman found herself there for loving a man her family didn’t approve of, labeled insane to avoid acknowledging her free will. Both young women share a connection decades apart as one struggles with her imprisonment and the other confronts the figurative—albeit protective—walls she built around herself. This book touched me in so many ways and is a go-to when I’m looking for a gift for the readers in my life.
