Memoir
241 pages / 1051 KB
5 Stars
I read this book in one sitting. I had a hard time putting
it down, and found myself not wanting to be interrupted by phone calls, or the
vagaries of living. A memoir of reflections on her life as she faces her 65th
birthday, the book travels to China, to Washington DC where she was arrested,
to the fire that destroyed her home years ago.
This is a gentle book, an inspiring book. Often, when I read
such a book, especially as well written as this one, I thrill for having read
it, and despair of ever writing anything again. This book has inspired me to
write my own memoir as I face my 72d birthday coming sooner than expected ;-)
I Love a Broad Margin to My Life is a free verse poem,
filled with music as she writes about her life, where she's been, what she's
done, the whys, and the wherefores. There are many tidbits of fun and useful
information scattered freely throughout. Did you know the meaning of the word karma is work, not doom? She lists reasons to live and take joy in life.
If you are a reader of Thoreau, as she is, you will
recognize the title as a line from one of his books. The saying hangs over her
desk. It will soon hang over mine, and this book will always be close to my
hand, and bound within my heart. I am not sure what Thoreau meant when he wrote
that line, or what MH Kinston meant when she adopted it, let alone what a
'broad margin to my life' means to you, but to me, it means to surround myself
with space to think, to write, to create, to quilt, to learn, to be, to live. Thank you, Ms. Kingston for
showing the way.
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