Review of My Windows, My Views ...

[Jane Gaskins]

[Following is a volunteer review of "My Windows, My Views ..." by Barbara McCarthy.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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My Windows, My Views... My Life and Travels
Stories from a Long Life Well-Lived
by Barbara McCarthy

Barbara is one of a large Air Force family. This book is her life story. Her story consists of constant relocation as a child and radical change as an adult. Relocation makes it difficult for her to develop friendships as a child. She was often lonely and longed to be part of something meaningful.

She was perplexed by her father's inability to show the affection she craved. He is an alcoholic, sometimes abusive spouse and father. The relationship with her father has some unhappy effects on her adult relationships. She finds her inability to voice her needs sabotages her happiness, and often, she leaves the relationship rather than face the truth.

In her early years, she yearns for friendships but later in life, she will accept she is often alone with few good friends. Her family travels carry over to her adulthood. She finds she rather enjoys traveling and seeing the world. She travels, when possible, with her brood of children. I will let you imagine how that sometimes turns out. She shares funny, sad, and captivating stories from those travels. One that comes to mind is when her son's hair turns bright green. If you want to know why, then you must read the book.

I am amazed at the number of times she reinvents herself. Her higher education is the formula for her success. She makes sacrifices to make her dreams come true. In the end, she shares lots of happy times and discovers in the writing that she had a wonderful life well lived.

I will rate this book 5 out of 5 . I loved the form the author took and made the story her own.

I don't know anything to change to make the story better. How do you change a personal life story?

The only editing error I found was on page 53. One Sunday, my father came to morning mass, which was rare for him for him to do then, and sat behind me.

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My Windows, My Views ...
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