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Walking in the Deep End: A Memoir Reviewed By Lois Henderson of Bookpleasures.com
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Lois C. Henderson

Reviewer Lois C. Henderson: Lois is a freelance academic editor and back-of-book indexer, who spends most of her free time compiling word search puzzles for tourism and educative purposes. Her puzzles are available HERE and HERE Her Twitter account (@LoisCHenderson) mainly focusses on the toponymy of British place names. Please feel welcome to contact her with any feedback at LoisCourtenayHenderson@gmail.com.





 
By Lois C. Henderson
Published on October 12, 2010
 

Author: Susan Parker
Publisher: San Diego, CA: Silver Threads
ISBN: 978-0-893067-09-7

Walking in the Deep End is a powerfully evocative and poignant memoir of a woman who has exerted great effort in coming to a profound understanding of her own being, especially in relation to those around her. The memoir deserves to be read by all thinking women, no matter where in the world they are. Revelatory, probing, transforming and transcending the mundane—this work is a gem that deserves to be treasured.







Author: Susan Parker

Publisher: San Diego, CA: Silver Threads
ISBN: 978-0-893067-09-7

Click Here To Purchase Walking in the Deep End


Ever thought that Christians seem to have it all their own way? Read Walking in the Deep End, and I can guarantee that you no longer will think so. This inspiring memoir should evoke your deepest emotions and have you empathizing with Susan Parker every inch of the way. Even if you have not personally experienced all that she has been through, it is more likely than not that at least some of your closest friends and family members have. I found that as I read further and further into the book, her life story grabbed my attention more and more, so that, by the end of it, I found as though I had, indeed, been submerged under water for a long, long time.

This book is engrossing. Alright, it’s not about any celebrity about whom everybody knows, but the timbre and the depth of Parker’s writing leaves one breathless. Bulimia, depression, suicide and divorce are only some of the personal and family crises that Parker is forced to face. And this all despite her religious convictions, which include her being born again and finding a great deal of truth in the Gospel, though less so in the various encounters that she has with different religious communities. Parker remains stoically upbeat despite the tragedies that beset her life—she is neither a cringer nor a whinger, but tackles all issues head on. The work also has its lighter moments, especially to do with her Spanish “family” that she first acquired when she spent a semester studying in Seville. One of the most amusing encounters that she shares with us is, on a later occasion, when her husband, who knows very little Spanish, mistakenly raises his glass to a toast of “Feliz Ano Nuevo!” (“Happy New Anus”) rather than to the intended “Felino Año Nuevo!” (“Happy New Year!”). As Parker writes: “Why in the world would any language have such a small difference—a little squiggly tilde over a consonant for such a big difference in meaning?” Apart from laughing out loud at some of the incidents that Parker so wittily describes, it is highly likely that you will find yourself crying over some, too.

Throughout, though, the centrality of Parker’s faith buoys her up and carries her along through the darkest of times. We are made very aware, not just by Parker’s involvement with sundry church groups, of which she finds the intimacy of a weekend church retreat program called CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish) the most meaningful, but also through her allusions to Christ that are scattered throughout the text, of her deep-rooted convictions about the Christian faith. Her strong awareness of Christ’s presence in her life enables her to retain her levelheadedness, even at those times when she feels at her most insecure: “I imagined crying with my head on Jesus’ shoulder. He would carry me to a light-filled place where I could see Mike one last time to say good-bye.”


Walking in the Deep End is a powerfully evocative and poignant memoir of a woman who has exerted great effort in coming to a profound understanding of her own being, especially in relation to those around her. The memoir deserves to be read by all thinking women, no matter where in the world they are. Revelatory, probing, transforming and transcending the mundane—this work is a gem that deserves to be treasured.

Click Here To Purchase Walking in the Deep End