I’m going to order it now. I have a letter story that I will forever regret. I’m guessing this happened when I was in my 30’s, so a long time ago. I’m 65 now. Anyway, I was home visiting my folks in Tucson where I grew up. My dad had turned my childhood bedroom into his office and every time I visited he wanted me to look through my things and do something with them. This time I opened a good sized box and inside were very neatly sorted stacks of letters that I’d received starting in my middle school years through college. Each bundle was organized by the friend who sent them to me. I was a big letter writer back in the day. I read a few letters and then decided to just throw the whole box away, with all those letters so nicely organized inside. To this day I shudder at my decision. At the very least, I should have given each of those friends the stack of letters they wrote to me. They were like a journal, recording their lives from a tender age of 12 away at summer camp through the years away at college. The irony of this is that I’m a collector and have a hard time getting rid of things. I don’t know what possessed me that day. I can still visualize opening up that huge trash bin and placing the box inside. Flash forward to 2014, both my parents are now deceased and my sisters and I are sorting through boxes and boxes of papers. You can guess that I kept every letter I wrote to my parents and they had saved. There was a large stack of them from when I was at sleep away camp for 8 long weeks. I was so homesick. Each letter started with “only 45 days more” “only 22 days more”…you get the picture. Another stack of letters was from the year I spent in Denmark as a study abroad student. I was 20. I also kept a stack of letters that my grandma wrote to my mom back in the ‘70’s. They are all in Romanian so I can’t even read them! They are written on that super thin blue tissue and are pages and pages long. I had a cousin translate one for me. The letter basically read like a conversation, my grandma telling my mom about her daily activities, some gossip, things like that. My grandma lived in Mexico and my mom was in Tucson at the time. I also found a bundle of letters that my dad wrote to his mom when he was stationed in China during WWII. My grandma was in Chicago. I have yet to read most of these letters BUT I have them all. I take some comfort in that 😌
Ordered! I can’t wait to read it! I have always loved the way you encourage and promote people and causes you believe in, Elizabeth. Thank you for sharing Phyllis with us!
I just finished the book. I enjoyed reading it very much and will pass it on to a girlfriend. It certainly makes me feel very blessed/lucky for the life I lead and helps me to understand the incredible hardships that generation faced. My mother was one of 12 children and my mother in law one of 17 children.
I just finished reading this beautiful book. I can’t even imagine what changes that agent suggested Phyllis make to this story but I’m glad she stood her ground. This incredibly poignant book is perfect the way it is. I am grateful to you, Elizabeth, for sharing Phyllis with us, and to Phyllis for sharing Mette with us. This story will stay with me for a long time. Taak.
I ordered Matte Hansdatter on my Kindle and am looking forward to it. Thank you for telling us about it and introducing us to your friend Phyllis. I know it’s going to be a lovely read.
What a wonderful gift letters are. I wish I had been aware of that years ago and had kept some, particularly those from my grandmother. Just to see her handwriting again and sniff the paper to see if any of the lavender perfume she’d sprayed it with was still there. Of course, it wouldn’t be but it’s a nice thought.
We have lost so much oral history and with email and text messages we don’t even know anyone’s handwriting. It’s a true loss felt only perhaps by those of us who are at a certain age. One of my granddaughters can’t read my handwriting at all so maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s a loss this young generation will never feel. My goodness I’m talking like an old woman, which I am.
So, at least you provided a link to her website -- and I loved her first essay, the one about cousins and Minnesota and her family's diaspora.
And tomorrow I will walk down Main Street to the nearby wonderful indie bookstore, which by some miracle has survived for two decades in this Central Mass town (Webster) , and order Phyllis's book.
Also ordered! (I'm quite jealous that she lives in a bungalow on Mt. Tam in Marin County.) Will enjoy reading her essays. You are the best friend to have. Thank you for recommending this book.
Ordered!! Can't wait to read it. My maternal grandmother immigrated from Sweden in 1904 when she was five-years-old and grew up in a Swedish neighborhood in Philadelphia. I have a fascination with all things Nordic. Wish I would have had the foresight to ask her about her early life. But then again, we didn't talk about anything hard or unpleasant in our family. (I changed that dynamic with my children.)
This is wonderful. I went to your cousins website and her story is beautiful. I wish I could gather with m,y cousins and re live our family life. A special cousin just passed away from Cancer/Covid and 8 of us wrote messages on the same group message for weeks. When she passed away we gathered at her funeral and our world had changed forever. I have vowed to not wait for the next funeral before we reconnect. Your story just rattles my heart. I continue to enjoy your stories and suggestions. Thank you. Thank you.
I scooped that up in a nano-second! I’ve read Phyllis’s essays and they are wonderful! Congratulations to Phyllis! I can’t wait to read it. By the way, in my pseudo book group (we choose a topic and everyone finds their own book to read and share…such fun!) the topic this month is dreams. It can be about dream interpretation, about someone achieving their dream, a book with dream in the title, etc. I chose The Dream Lover to re-read and share with my group.
I am a 77 great grandmother as of Feb,11,2024. I have loved your books all my adult life. I read them over and over. What a precious friend you are❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I’m going to order it now. I have a letter story that I will forever regret. I’m guessing this happened when I was in my 30’s, so a long time ago. I’m 65 now. Anyway, I was home visiting my folks in Tucson where I grew up. My dad had turned my childhood bedroom into his office and every time I visited he wanted me to look through my things and do something with them. This time I opened a good sized box and inside were very neatly sorted stacks of letters that I’d received starting in my middle school years through college. Each bundle was organized by the friend who sent them to me. I was a big letter writer back in the day. I read a few letters and then decided to just throw the whole box away, with all those letters so nicely organized inside. To this day I shudder at my decision. At the very least, I should have given each of those friends the stack of letters they wrote to me. They were like a journal, recording their lives from a tender age of 12 away at summer camp through the years away at college. The irony of this is that I’m a collector and have a hard time getting rid of things. I don’t know what possessed me that day. I can still visualize opening up that huge trash bin and placing the box inside. Flash forward to 2014, both my parents are now deceased and my sisters and I are sorting through boxes and boxes of papers. You can guess that I kept every letter I wrote to my parents and they had saved. There was a large stack of them from when I was at sleep away camp for 8 long weeks. I was so homesick. Each letter started with “only 45 days more” “only 22 days more”…you get the picture. Another stack of letters was from the year I spent in Denmark as a study abroad student. I was 20. I also kept a stack of letters that my grandma wrote to my mom back in the ‘70’s. They are all in Romanian so I can’t even read them! They are written on that super thin blue tissue and are pages and pages long. I had a cousin translate one for me. The letter basically read like a conversation, my grandma telling my mom about her daily activities, some gossip, things like that. My grandma lived in Mexico and my mom was in Tucson at the time. I also found a bundle of letters that my dad wrote to his mom when he was stationed in China during WWII. My grandma was in Chicago. I have yet to read most of these letters BUT I have them all. I take some comfort in that 😌
Ordered! I can’t wait to read it! I have always loved the way you encourage and promote people and causes you believe in, Elizabeth. Thank you for sharing Phyllis with us!
I just finished the book. I enjoyed reading it very much and will pass it on to a girlfriend. It certainly makes me feel very blessed/lucky for the life I lead and helps me to understand the incredible hardships that generation faced. My mother was one of 12 children and my mother in law one of 17 children.
I just finished reading this beautiful book. I can’t even imagine what changes that agent suggested Phyllis make to this story but I’m glad she stood her ground. This incredibly poignant book is perfect the way it is. I am grateful to you, Elizabeth, for sharing Phyllis with us, and to Phyllis for sharing Mette with us. This story will stay with me for a long time. Taak.
I ordered Matte Hansdatter on my Kindle and am looking forward to it. Thank you for telling us about it and introducing us to your friend Phyllis. I know it’s going to be a lovely read.
What a wonderful gift letters are. I wish I had been aware of that years ago and had kept some, particularly those from my grandmother. Just to see her handwriting again and sniff the paper to see if any of the lavender perfume she’d sprayed it with was still there. Of course, it wouldn’t be but it’s a nice thought.
We have lost so much oral history and with email and text messages we don’t even know anyone’s handwriting. It’s a true loss felt only perhaps by those of us who are at a certain age. One of my granddaughters can’t read my handwriting at all so maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it’s a loss this young generation will never feel. My goodness I’m talking like an old woman, which I am.
Thank you again Elizabeth…
Have a “swell” day.
I just ordered it, and I'm so looking forward to reading it. Thank you Elizabeth and Phyllis.
Just bought it. It will be the next book I read on my Kindle. ❤️
So, at least you provided a link to her website -- and I loved her first essay, the one about cousins and Minnesota and her family's diaspora.
And tomorrow I will walk down Main Street to the nearby wonderful indie bookstore, which by some miracle has survived for two decades in this Central Mass town (Webster) , and order Phyllis's book.
Also ordered! (I'm quite jealous that she lives in a bungalow on Mt. Tam in Marin County.) Will enjoy reading her essays. You are the best friend to have. Thank you for recommending this book.
Ordered!! Can't wait to read it. My maternal grandmother immigrated from Sweden in 1904 when she was five-years-old and grew up in a Swedish neighborhood in Philadelphia. I have a fascination with all things Nordic. Wish I would have had the foresight to ask her about her early life. But then again, we didn't talk about anything hard or unpleasant in our family. (I changed that dynamic with my children.)
This is wonderful. I went to your cousins website and her story is beautiful. I wish I could gather with m,y cousins and re live our family life. A special cousin just passed away from Cancer/Covid and 8 of us wrote messages on the same group message for weeks. When she passed away we gathered at her funeral and our world had changed forever. I have vowed to not wait for the next funeral before we reconnect. Your story just rattles my heart. I continue to enjoy your stories and suggestions. Thank you. Thank you.
I scooped that up in a nano-second! I’ve read Phyllis’s essays and they are wonderful! Congratulations to Phyllis! I can’t wait to read it. By the way, in my pseudo book group (we choose a topic and everyone finds their own book to read and share…such fun!) the topic this month is dreams. It can be about dream interpretation, about someone achieving their dream, a book with dream in the title, etc. I chose The Dream Lover to re-read and share with my group.
Yay, Phyllis! Excuse me while I go over to Amazon. I am so glad she decided to write it. ❤️
Elizabeth - I miss your writing!!
I am a 77 great grandmother as of Feb,11,2024. I have loved your books all my adult life. I read them over and over. What a precious friend you are❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Elizabeth, you are such a good friend! I will order your friend's book!!