Product Description

A Collection of Stories and Poems Celebrating Living Life With Arms Wide Open

The Visit Lillith T. Lewis Strength and Love and Family Chelle Cordero Banana Boats and Boatloads of Cousins K'lee Williams At Nine Kathi Anderson Flight of the Crones Smoky Trudeau Reflected Fear Milena Gomez Wide Open L.E. Harvey The Ties That Unbind Victoria Howard Season for Love Jacqueline Seewald The Cafeteria Sarah Natalia Lee The Color of Change Kate Evans Gami K'ee Williams Trey's Need Kelsey Chasen I Am 30 Namid Someone Formerly Known As Not-So-Braveheart Leah Samul Goodbye, Emily Dickinson Smoky Trudeau Forest Song Little Mother Ch. 9 Vila SpiderHawk Fifty and Counting Sue Stewart Synonymous with Ecstasy (or, an apologia for the thesaurus) Kate Evans The Journey Brenda Hill Yesterday s Hearts Marilyn Celeste Morris Promises Ryan Callaway Lonely Soul Ch. 19 Mary Quast

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2707171 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

Customer Reviews

A Book That Celebrates Living Life
Book Review: With Arms Wide Open

With Arms Wide Open is described as: "An Anthology Celebrating Living Life" and that's exactly what it is. Compiled by the editor Kimberlee Williams of Vanilla Heart Publishing, the book is a collection of inspirational and heartwarming stories (both fiction and nonfiction) as well as poetry. There are many voices here and many types of life experiences from the amusing and joyful to the painful and raw. But what comes across is the zest for life and living, the refusal to give up on life no matter the adversity that one must face. These are women's voices, women's lives, and they are worth reading and sharing. Altogether, there are twenty-three separate pieces of varying length
The book starts with a group of nonfiction pieces. In "The Visit" by Lillith T. Lewis, a woman who has been estranged from her mother over the years, is reunited during her mother's terminal illness, proving that Thomas Wolfe was wrong, you can go home again. "Strength and Love and Family" by Chelle Cordero deals with the joy and pain of trying to start a family--another moving piece. "Banana Boats & Boatloads of Cousins" and "Gami," both by K'Lee Williams, are memoirs of a loving family and fond memories of grandparents and great-grandparents, a charming and nostalgic piece. "At Nine" by Kathi Anderson is an amazing piece of creative nonfiction worthy of the best literary journal. "I Am 30" by Namid is a powerful piece about battling to survive each day against crippling arthritis and yet still embracing life. Leah Samul's piece "Someone Formerly Known as Not-So-Braveheart" brings up a recurring theme: women finding the courage to do what is right. I would like to comment on every single piece in this anthology because each one is well-written and speaks so powerfully to the reader. But I know realistically, the review would be too long. So let me just conclude by say that this is a book worth reading.