Some things capture you from the very first. That was Purple Leaves, Red Cherries for me.
“How long does it take, being a mom? When is my shift over?”
A couple of months ago, some of the Just.Be.Enough team members had a chance to get a copy of this book to read (and their posts inspired by the book went up on the site last week). I bowed out because I got to participate in the Striiv challenge, but I did get a PDF copy of the book. One look and I knew I needed to read it in its intended format, so I bought the Kindle edition
“[In]Sanity” by Nomi Melul Ohad, first published in the book Purple Leaves, Red Cherries.
In the introduction, author Tania Elfersy describes coming up with the idea for the book: “So I got to thinking, mostly in the shower – my “room of one’s own” (where else do I get a peaceful moment by myself?)…” Oh yeah, I thought, this is an author (and mother) who gets it.
One of my rants about motherhood is that we don’t talk enough about what it’s really like. When I first became a mother I thought I was the only one who found it so hard, and I wish I’d had this book then.
“Why did it never occur to me that I could actually put down my baby and go to the bathroom?”
I dove into this book without really knowing what to expect, and I loved it so much I read it in one sitting. It contains several different categories of stories by real moms and each story is short. Really short, which makes it so easy to read (especially for tired moms who don’t get through more than a few sentences of a book before falling asleep at night). The categories demonstrate the complexity of motherhood, and the organization of the book makes it easy to go back and read something related to your own struggle and realize you’re not so alone.
“Who I Was, Who I Am” includes stories of women’s identities before and after children – one of my favourite topics.
“Love” is both heartbreaking and beautiful in its stories of mothers’ love for their children.
“Difficult Days” hit me right in the gut. Those could have been my stories.
They even tackled sex.
“But the thought of it. It’s so exhausting. I want a cup of tea, damn it!”
And the artwork is totally captivating. It gives the book a personality. It makes it sing.
“Boundaries and Balance” by Nomi Melul Ohad, first published in the book
Purple Leaves, Red Cherries.
Sprinkled throughout the stories in the book—amid the admissions of tiredness and difficult days—is the one almost universal truth about motherhood: There’s nothing else in the world like it.
“..the incomparable, heart-stopping joy of then and now and always being my daughter’s mother.”
Trust me, you should read this. You’ll be glad you did.
(All quotes are from the book.)
Purple Leaves, Red Cherries is available in hardcover
To share some of this beauty with you (and with thanks to Tania Elfersy) I’m giving away a Purple Leaves, Red Cherries poster. One winner will receive a 24″x16″poster on semi-gloss poster paper, valued at US$21.70.(Visit the book’s website to see poster designs.)
Giveaway is open to US, Canada, Australia and the UK. (Poster sizes may vary to meet the country standards.) Closes at midnight on Dec. 21 (which is my birthday – just sayin’) after which one winner will be selected through Rafflecopter.
Note: I was not compensated to write this review and I bought the Kindle edition with my own dollar. I just really like this book. After getting to know Tania a bit through her blog and on Twitter I really like her too and am happy to help her promote this wonderful (self-published!) book. Which is to say: All opinions are my own.
