Helpful Score: 1
Monica Bowman is the Architect of [her] Soul, or so claims the self-help book that she and her boyfriend Joe wrote. Actually, if you want to get technical about it, Joe penned most of the book himself, but since he already had a career, he pushed Monica into claiming it as her own. She promotes the book through flashy motivational workshops in hotels up and down the east coast, complete with disco balls, confetti, and Celebrate Good Times blaring through the meeting rooms. And so Monica spends her days preaching rebirth, renewal, and reinvention as the solution to peoples unhappiness, all the while carrying a bottle of tranquilizers around in her pocket, just in case.
Even though she knows that her book and workshops are really helping people, Monica feels like a failure and longs to take her book's advice for herself and change her life. But with pressure bearing down on her from Joe, the enterprise backing her book and tours, and even from her well-meaning but overbearing parents, Monica finds herself immobilized by anxiety and unhappiness.
Lacey Gears is Deaf, with a capital D. Not to be confused with the hearing worlds deaf, which is not capitalized and often also referred to by hearing folks as hearing impaired, a label that Lacey vigorously rejects. You see, being Deaf, with a capital D means you are part of a huge community, an entire network comprised of both non-hearing individuals as well as hearing individuals who also speak ASL. To Lacey, Deaf with a capital D is her family. The only family she has ever known.
Making a living painting portraits of people and their pets, and preparing for an important art exhibition with her studio-mate Mike, Lacey is happy with the life she has made for herself, far removed from the group home for handicapped children that she grew up in. But even though Lacey is content in her world, she finds herself unconsciously painting portraits with the same theme over and over again in her downtime with no logical reason or explanation.
Then one day Lacey receives an anonymous piece of mail that forever after changes the course of her life. Its a simple letter, really, just four sentences long. It has no signature or return address, but contains a revelation so astonishing that it catapults Lacey into a whole new world and a whole new perception of herself:
"You have a sister. Her name is Monica. Go to Benjamin Books. Look at the poster in the window."
The remainder of My Sisters Voice is the absorbing tale of these two women discovering each other, resurrecting the secrets of the past that ties them together, and forging a new future for themselves and those that they love. I enjoyed reading this book, and was gripped by the tale of Monica and Laceys past. Ms. Carters portrayal of the ASL-speaking world, with its fellowship and ethos was enlightening and uplifting. Even though I found myself predicting outcomes once or twice, there were enough moments of complete surprise to balance them out, and overall I found My Sisters Voice to be a pleasurable read. I give it 4 stars!
Even though she knows that her book and workshops are really helping people, Monica feels like a failure and longs to take her book's advice for herself and change her life. But with pressure bearing down on her from Joe, the enterprise backing her book and tours, and even from her well-meaning but overbearing parents, Monica finds herself immobilized by anxiety and unhappiness.
Lacey Gears is Deaf, with a capital D. Not to be confused with the hearing worlds deaf, which is not capitalized and often also referred to by hearing folks as hearing impaired, a label that Lacey vigorously rejects. You see, being Deaf, with a capital D means you are part of a huge community, an entire network comprised of both non-hearing individuals as well as hearing individuals who also speak ASL. To Lacey, Deaf with a capital D is her family. The only family she has ever known.
Making a living painting portraits of people and their pets, and preparing for an important art exhibition with her studio-mate Mike, Lacey is happy with the life she has made for herself, far removed from the group home for handicapped children that she grew up in. But even though Lacey is content in her world, she finds herself unconsciously painting portraits with the same theme over and over again in her downtime with no logical reason or explanation.
Then one day Lacey receives an anonymous piece of mail that forever after changes the course of her life. Its a simple letter, really, just four sentences long. It has no signature or return address, but contains a revelation so astonishing that it catapults Lacey into a whole new world and a whole new perception of herself:
"You have a sister. Her name is Monica. Go to Benjamin Books. Look at the poster in the window."
The remainder of My Sisters Voice is the absorbing tale of these two women discovering each other, resurrecting the secrets of the past that ties them together, and forging a new future for themselves and those that they love. I enjoyed reading this book, and was gripped by the tale of Monica and Laceys past. Ms. Carters portrayal of the ASL-speaking world, with its fellowship and ethos was enlightening and uplifting. Even though I found myself predicting outcomes once or twice, there were enough moments of complete surprise to balance them out, and overall I found My Sisters Voice to be a pleasurable read. I give it 4 stars!
