River of Pearls

Rating:
Summary: A Life Story Like No Other
Review: Visit any bookstore these days and you'll find memoirs all over the non-fiction section. Everyone, it seems, has a story to tell. Many of them, sadly are not that compelling. Thankfully, Mary Stickney's RIVER OF PEARLS, a collection of her recollections of her life overseas in Asia in the 1960s and 1970s is a not just another memoir among many.

Written essentially as a follow-up her debut memoir JUNGLE PATHS AND PALACE TREASURES, which tells of Stickney's fascinating life as a mother, wife of a foreign service officer, and independent ambassador of good will in India, RIVER PEARLS picks up the tale of Stickney and her family in Southeast Asia during wartime.

The book is hard to type cast. It would appeal to world travelers and those with a casual interest in foreign cultures and current world history. But it also offers a definite sense and smell and wastefulness of the turmoil of the violence America initially brought to Vietnam a half century ago. The reader is quickly immersed in the action; almost an eye witness to Stickney's dodging kidnappers in downtown Manila, Viet Cong rifle fire and mortar attacks in and around Da Nang province, and flying off to the island of the Philippines on covert assignments from the U.S. embassy.

At the same time the author introduces the reader to a number of well-known public figures she encounters along her journey. Stickney and her sons experience volcanic eruptions in the Philippines from almost inside the crater, as well as earthquakes and other natural and man-made disasters, while succeeding in making the best of some really tough situations, not the least of which is a rocky marriage with her undependable and emotionally distant husband a U.S. aid officer posted to rural Vietnam at the height of the war.

Those seeking fine literature will not find it in Stickney's book, but that's fine by me. These are short, real life stories of a full life lived all over the globe. The author's style is freshly her own, and the manner in which she conveys her experiences places you in the room with her as events unfold. The reader starts asking himself, `what else can happen?'

Still, one cannot help but admire-almost envy-the fact that the daughter of an Alabama farmer makes it all the way to the inner circles of Imelda Marcos' dinner parties. And the author's willingness to embrace the cultures she encounters is commendable. She possesses the mettle to survive in an extremely violent region of the globe and you admire her for that.

Stickney's tales are balanced with stories of personal battles and temptations, and the struggles with raising three children overseas essentially by herself. All of this happens within the tempest of the Vietnam War, which makes RIVER OF PEARLS a wonderful read for anyone seeking foreign adventure and intrigue for themselves, not to mention a better understanding of what was going on in Southeast Asia during a very difficult period in world history.

Rod Haynes
author of ROGUES ISLAND MEMOIR

Rating:
Summary: A Life Story Like No Other
Review: Visit any bookstore these days and you'll find memoirs all over the non-fiction section. Everyone, it seems, has a story to tell. Many of them, sadly are not that compelling. Thankfully, Mary Stickney's RIVER OF PEARLS, a collection of her recollections of her life overseas in Asia in the 1960s and 1970s is a not just another memoir among many.

Written essentially as a follow-up her debut memoir JUNGLE PATHS AND PALACE TREASURES, which tells of Stickney's fascinating life as a mother, wife of a foreign service officer, and independent ambassador of good will in India, RIVER PEARLS picks up the tale of Stickney and her family in Southeast Asia during wartime.

The book is hard to type cast. It would appeal to world travelers and those with a casual interest in foreign cultures and current world history. But it also offers a definite sense and smell and wastefulness of the turmoil of the violence America initially brought to Vietnam a half century ago. The reader is quickly immersed in the action; almost an eye witness to Stickney's dodging kidnappers in downtown Manila, Viet Cong rifle fire and mortar attacks in and around Da Nang province, and flying off to the island of the Philippines on covert assignments from the U.S. embassy.

At the same time the author introduces the reader to a number of well-known public figures she encounters along her journey. Stickney and her sons experience volcanic eruptions in the Philippines from almost inside the crater, as well as earthquakes and other natural and man-made disasters, while succeeding in making the best of some really tough situations, not the least of which is a rocky marriage with her undependable and emotionally distant husband a U.S. aid officer posted to rural Vietnam at the height of the war.

Those seeking fine literature will not find it in Stickney's book, but that's fine by me. These are short, real life stories of a full life lived all over the globe. The author's style is freshly her own, and the manner in which she conveys her experiences places you in the room with her as events unfold. The reader starts asking himself, 'what else can happen?'

Still, one cannot help but admire-almost envy-the fact that the daughter of an Alabama farmer makes it all the way to the inner circles of Imelda Marcos' dinner parties. And the author's willingness to embrace the cultures she encounters is commendable. She possesses the mettle to survive in an extremely violent region of the globe and you admire her for that.

Stickney's tales are balanced with stories of personal battles and temptations, and the struggles with raising three children overseas essentially by herself. All of this happens within the tempest of the Vietnam War, which makes RIVER OF PEARLS a wonderful read for anyone seeking foreign adventure and intrigue for themselves, not to mention a better understanding of what was going on in Southeast Asia during a very difficult period in world history.

Rod Haynes
author of ROGUES ISLAND MEMOIR