My Renaissance: A Widow's Healing Pilgrimage to Tuscany (Capital Discoveries (Hardcover))

Rating:
Summary: Moving and Inspirational
Review: A sensitive, inspirational chronology of caring and healing. A story of love and the reawakening of a beautiful spirit.

Rating:
Summary: the transforming power of the beautiful
Review: For the reader who has encountered tragic loss, Rose Marie Curteman in MY RENAISSANCE: A WIDOW'S HEALING PILGRAMAGE TO TUSCANY presents a genuine alternative to the talking cure of psychoanalysis or the silence of the Zen monastery. We follow her mid-life journey into Tuscany and are awakened to the transforming power of the beautiful to be found, for instance, in the painting, sculpture and architecture of the Florentine Renaissance, or in the lush and haunting autumn landscapes of Chianti, or in the exuberant celebration of life in Florentine kitchens and dining rooms, or in the expressive tunings and turnings of the Italian language. In a style which is remarably lucid and engaging, Rose Marie Curteman charts a path through memory and mourning into wonder and joy. In this incisive work it is death which comes to stand impotently before life, and not the other way around. The vibrant, playful, refreshing and healing energies of the beautiful as portrayed in Rose Marie Curteman's journey exert their transforming effect also on the reader. This book does not belong in the inflated genre of popular literature on visits to Italy. It is in a class of its own, marking a profound mid-life search for self after the tragic loss of a beloved spouse.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: I couldn't put it down. I was enthralled with the author's saga of being a caregiver and her subsequent journey to Italy. Written in simple language and using her background to fine tune her experience, the book was surprisingly upbeat and positive. It was a delightful read.

Rating:
Summary: Like a warm, engaging talk with a friend
Review: I'm 32 years old with a young marriage and a new baby. Why would I pick up a book about grieving? Ahh--because I love Italy (especially Florence) and since I'm a new mom, I must do all my travel through books at the moment. Also, I'm no stranger to loss myself having lost my first love to a terrible accident 15 years ago. I know first-hand about Alzheimers as I was once a nurse's aid in my last two years of high school. This is a book for anyone--not just an older woman or a presently grieving woman--but anyone who is simply sensitive and interested in other people's stories. Although, I would highly recommend this book to someone recently widowed as it's a very positive touchstone and written without psychobabble. I vicariously relished going back to a university class in Florence with Rose--I miss those epiphonies of knowledge and a life in which the "river always flows to [you]" (wink wink).

Rating:
Summary: Like a warm, engaging talk with a friend
Review: I'm 32 years old with a young marriage and a new baby. Why would I pick up a book about grieving? Ahh--because I love Italy (especially Florence) and since I'm a new mom, I must do all my travel through books at the moment. Also, I'm no stranger to loss myself having lost my first love to a terrible accident 15 years ago. I know first-hand about Alzheimers as I was once a nurse's aid in my last two years of high school. This is a book for anyone--not just an older woman or a presently grieving woman--but anyone who is simply sensitive and interested in other people's stories. Although, I would highly recommend this book to someone recently widowed as it's a very positive touchstone and written without psychobabble. I vicariously relished going back to a university class in Florence with Rose--I miss those epiphonies of knowledge and a life in which the "river always flows to [you]" (wink wink).

Rating:
Summary: Wisdom and optimism.
Review: One of the better first person accounts I have ever read. The
experiences of Ms. Curteman move along without side meanderings. Significant life issues are presented in a positive, life affirming manner. I was constantly going into my own insights regarding life, death and selfless service. The book left a vivid impression and I am looking at my life more carefully now.
I read the introduction first. Later I read the entire book in one sitting. It was too engaging and uplifting to set aside. A great primer on making one's life "new" again.

Rating:
Summary: As beautiful a journey as the beauty of Tuscany
Review: Rose Marie Curteman's My Renaissance: A Widow's Healing Pilgrimage to Tuscany is as beautiful as the journey on which beauty was her guide. I haven't read many books all the way through lately and I did hers. Even when one knows the outcome, one wants to keep reading. She told the story with such gentle depth with just the right touch of humor. We know as we read that even in grief, we will laugh again. Great characterization and wonderful pacing. Well done, well done. I hope it sells tons. I mean to buy a few copies as gifts.

Rating:
Summary: As beautiful a journey as the beauty of Tuscany
Review: Rose Marie Curteman's My Renaissance: A Widow's Healing Pilgrimage to Tuscany is as beautiful as the journey on which beauty was her guide. I haven't read many books all the way through lately and I did hers. Even when one knows the outcome, one wants to keep reading. She told the story with such gentle depth with just the right touch of humor. We know as we read that even in grief, we will laugh again. Great characterization and wonderful pacing. Well done, well done. I hope it sells tons. I mean to buy a few copies as gifts.