February 2006 | Conscious Culture
Book Reviews
By Christine Mangan and Deborah Straw
FACE TO FACE: Women Writers on Faith, Mysticism, and Awakening, edited by Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson. (North Point Press, $14.)
At once poignant and often humorous, Face to Face is a collection of well-written, engaging essays and poems written by 42 female writers who explore the idea of female spirituality in the space of only a few pages, by reflecting on how faith has affected each in her personal life.
In the story “Ramadan Redux,” author Susanne Pari recalls her very first Ramadan, where she offers to join her father in the traditional fast in an effort to appear more exotic to her friends. Though this plan fails, she ultimately stumbles upon an unexpected benefit: the opportunity to get to know her father.
In “Shoplifting for Jesus,” Marlene Blessing struggles with her attempts to rebel against her mother’s conservative religious beliefs. Blessing explains in the form of a recipe: “Take one starched petticoat and add small white gloves, then stir in a big dash of Bible stories and the ability flawlessly to recite the Lord’s Prayer and Twenty-third Psalm. Season with a sprinkling of humility and a pinch of pure duty, and voila, a Norwegian Lutheran mother’s ideal child.”
The writers represent a wide range of religions and beliefs, but they tell their stories with such humanity that each makes her story accessible to a larger audience, regardless of faith.
—Christine Mangan
CURIOUS BY NATURE, One Woman’s Exploration of the Natural World, by Candace Savage (Greystone Books $14.95).
It’s always a delight to discover a new Canadian writer, as so few of them reach bookstores on our side of the border. Candace Savage, author of two new books, Curious by Nature, and Crows: Encounters with the Wise Guys, lives in Saskatchewan. She is an eloquent journalist with a sharp curiosity. In Curious by Nature, she writes about familiar species but fills in some gaps.
Case in point: Two essays in the book are about wolves. One is about their personalities, the other about their successful reintroduction into Yellowstone. In the first piece, she explains their family structure and their pack structure, including interesting facts such as, wolves can travel at 35 to 45 mph when pursued. And the alpha wolf is generally not an aggressive animal: “Most top-ranking male wolves are exceptionally tolerant,” Savage tells us. “[The male wolf] provides an emotional center for the community and a focus for friendly feeling in the family.”
Savage admires wild species; she presents the facts so that we better understand grizzlies and coyotes. Her belief is that the more we know, the more we will care. — Deborah Straw
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