Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: trauma

  • The Mother of Honey

    The Mother of Honey

    A Memoir About a Woman’s Journey to Heal Ancestral Trauma 

    Ana Maria Luisa writes a compelling and beautiful tribute to her mother Iracy, a formidable, brave, loving and inspired Brazilian woman, born in poverty, but with strength, courage and determination moved her family out of the harsh life of farming in rural Brazil, to the big City life of Sao Paulo.

    Beginning with Francesca, Iracy’s mother, a child of a large rural farming family, given to be a child bride at the age of thirteen years, the lives of the woman of the family unfold. No idea how to be a wife, her husband returned her to her mother to be taught how to keep house and look after him.

    Sixteen children later, 8 small graves of the little ones too sick to survive lodged forever in her heart, she and the remaining children began a new life in Sao Paulo, a life that once would have been unimaginable, except for the bravery of one of her older daughters Maria, taking a chance to move to another life, and then later Iracy joining her.

    The story is full of sadness, happiness, laughter and love bound together by family ties so strong that no matter where each of the children lived, they still formed an unbreakable bond. The love for one tiny, indomitable woman who with her innate wisdom and kindness changed the lives of everyone she met on her life journey, is palpable.

    Iracy’s story is one of grit and determination, of a brave woman who carefully planned her pathway through life encouraging her children to strive for the best, even though, when Ana moved away to England, a place they had to look up on the Atlas, it almost broke her heart.

    Rich for the telling The Mother of Honey shares with candour the harsh reality of life for so many families born into hardship, as three generations of women strive to bring change to their children.

    Anyone facing a struggle in life, or feeling a bit lost, aimless or indecisive should read Iracy’s story as it shows that with a plan, something Iracy always had, even though others were unaware, determination and faith in herself, she truly did move mountains.

  • Comedy, Alcohol, Trauma and Games: Fun and Discussion at University, and Becky Helps Some People Overcome Problems Including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Becky Bexley the Child Genius Book 4)

    Comedy, Alcohol, Trauma and Games: Fun and Discussion at University, and Becky Helps Some People Overcome Problems Including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Becky Bexley the Child Genius Book 4)

    The Becky Bexley series of books has reached book four Comedy, Alcohol, Trauma and Games and is once again full of very excellent social advice for the tween and teen aged readers, that perhaps they would not take from anyone other than Becky Bexley Child Genius.

    Fans of the series will appreciate that over the past year at University she has made some very good friends and they enjoy spending a considerable amount of time together solving issues, having fun and trying to help each other.

    On this day the weather was particularly terrible and they all got together to simple chat and have a lot of fun, doing what teens do, chatting and laughing at the many silly, funny and serious thigs in their lives which leads on to the other issues Diana Holbourn has chosen to highlight in book four.

    Comedy sees Becky taking to the stage and doing so well she is invited back to the Comedy Club for another gig, which leads onto the issue of Alcohol and the serious downside to thinking it is good for you. This is an area discussed in great detail by Becky and her friends, as they look at the right and wrong aspect of consuming far too much.

    Stress is something that is a rising concern throughout society. This is talked about in several scenarios which help put the cause, and many helpful ways of going about coping with stress, in a very comfortable, acceptable manner.

    Trauma is investigated in a very positive a manner, with the examples used being vastly different; Wheelchair Rugby, Disabled Running, and discovering that there is always someone worse off than you are just a few. 

    Games create fun and fun helps with stress and friendship, and when Becky and her friends create a card game they think will be a huge success, they set about organising a really excellent event for Charity which raises a huge amount of money and everyone there went home feeling terrific, which brings book four to a happy, upbeat conclusion.

    As there tends to be a huge amount of information presented in each of the topics, the book is perhaps best read and understood in smaller segments as the word flow tends to be somewhat overwhelming at times.

    Perhaps there will be a book five, that is yet to be discovered, but if not, the information that has been presented to the 12 to 18-year age range in a non-aggressive manner over the four books, certainly makes the series well worthwhile.

  • Never Look Desperate

    Never Look Desperate

    Tugging on the heartstrings, infuriating at times and deeply poignant, Never Look Desperate fromRachel Matthews, is set within the seldom discussed area of generational trauma and the wide spread, long lasting effects this causes on the ones who we are supposed to love and guide.

    Melbourne is beginning to reopen after the long, dark, desperate days of Covid; the residue of fear still remains. Bernard is steeped in misery as he has lost his wife, even though they were separated and his beloved father. He is lonely, wanting noting more than to be hugged, have someone to talk with, to be normal, whatever that means.

    Minh, fit, healthy, savvy and distanced from her family is seeking someone to be a part of her life, but is cautiuous about finding the right person. She has been hurt before.

    Goldie is struggling to cope with the death of her husband Marvin, a man she felt she had fallen out of love with many years before this death. She has focused her life around organic, environmental and spiritual guidelines, failing to understand her young son Bernard; turning him into what he considered a freak show.

    As each of the protagonists struggle to deal with their emotional issues, their sense of loss, grief and despair, each one acknowledges they are broken in spirit, wondering if they can ever heal and find someone who truly loves them.

     Matthews has captured the funny, wry reality and angst of these vulnerable souls and how they face their issues eventually; even though it took a disinfected cruise ship, in Goldie’s case, a step father who, facing serious illness, refuses to see his daughter and Bernard getting to know the man upstairs and why he plays such incredibility loud music.

    Beautifully constructed each of the characters have developed their personalities with flair, often reminiscent of those we know or have met on our life journeys, each one remaining long after the last page has been read.  A wry chuckle over some of Bernard’s antics returns, Goldie’s self-obsession has been well portrayed. Minh’s gentle softness balances the mother and son as they all struggle slowly into love.

    Never Look Desperate, is a delicately balanced work which will long remain as a much loved story of our times.

  • Serengotti

    Serengotti

    Serengotti is very much a novel of today, of thoughts, feelings, trauma, life, laughter, and to a degree, acceptance.

    Ch’anzu tells her story in a bitter sweet, no holds barred style that shines a very clear light on the long term effects that displacement of culture, country and lifestyle, held together by unmentionable trauma can and does have on a society; a society that has cobbled together a future from an horrific past, in a country that really has no understanding of such things.

    Her world seems to be collapsing from the inside out. Growing up in Australia Ch’anzu has a past full of despair and trauma. She has made a life for herself, studied hard and has a good job in the world of computers.

    Losing her job, due to some fabricated reason is bad enough, but losing her wife as well just adds to the insult that seems to be her life at the moment. She realises that Melbourne is not the place to be and takes up a job offer in a place called Serengotti, a migrant settlement town, which turns her world up-side-down.

    She faces more pain and suffering that she could ever imagine and begins to view the world, her world, in a vastly different manner. Her twin brother, Tex, an issue within himself, adds to the complexity of the story as he tries to change, but in doing so, creates further deeper, darker problems.

    A surreal encounter with a woman who chooses to live life in a somewhat alternative style or universe, creates another layer of intrigue to a story that is full of twists and turns – Aviana is her name, but who is she in reality.

    Compassionate, controversial, fascinating and deeply introspective, Serengotti is an outstanding novel that has a very wry element to the wording, which keeps what could easily have been a dysfunctional storyline glued well together, to form an unforgettable view into a world that is all too real to many.

  • Finding Granny: We Never Really Lose The People We Love…

    Finding Granny: We Never Really Lose The People We Love…

    Young children confronting severe illness or a stroke in older family members can often be very distressed, finding the situation very traumatic. It is really one of a child’s first looks at change, and the realisation that things won’t always be the same. Feeling angry and blaming the person would be a natural reaction. And this is how Edie feels when her close and loving Granny is no longer by her side but in hospital.

    So many things change when Granny is taken to hospital. She isn’t at home any more, Edie and Mum have to visit her each day in hospital, and they have to feed her! That just doesn’t seem right! The doctor explains that Granny’s brain “Isn’t working the way it used to.”  At first, Edie doesn’t want to go in the room to see this Granny. The fiery Granny she knew and loved is gone; there is just a helpless old lady in the bed now.

    Some issues are resolved when Mum and Edie go to visit Granny and find her in another room, painting. Granny’s mischievous nature is still present and as Edie sits down to look at the painting, Granny plays a trick. So Edie understands that Granny might be different on the outside, but on the inside she is still a “Fierce lion Granny.”  Children who have experienced sudden changes in their family will find Edie’s perspective interesting.

    The font in this story is a good size for easy reading and following. The text is simple and direct covering complex issues basically. The illustrations are quite special, covering most of the double page spread. Water washed paint gives a gentle tone to the front and back covers. This is an excellent discussion starter for young children with older family members.