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I couldn't
put this book down. WHERE IS THE MANGO PRINCESS? is Cathy Crimmins's
memoir of her husband being hit by a speedboat and his consequent
TBI (traumatic brain injury). His rehabilitation is lengthy and
difficult, and the man who emerges after the injury is not the man
Crimmins originally married. But her personal outlook is long on
humor and honest concern for getting it right --- both her story
and the specifics of the problem and its treatment. It's a remarkable
achievement and one that even the most hesitant reader, the one
who doesn't usually like stories about medical trauma and mishap,
will find enlightening, uplifting and ultimately moving.
Even
if you're not the kind of person who watches TLC's "Trauma" or even
the dramatic program "ER," you are probably the kind of person who
worries about the people you love, who understands that with a split
second your life can change inalterably, who knows that the world
is an occasionally crazy and insane place. Crimmins, with her clarity
and simplicity of style, talks to her readers as if they are her
pals, gossiping on the phone, being let in on all the scary and
sometimes hilarious situations that rise out of the trauma. Her
husband comes across as a willful man who is determined to get better,
and Crimmins finds herself feeling inadequate as a nurturer. In
that sense, it's an interesting tale for women to read, as it's
always presumed that women, even the most non-maternal ones among
us, will snap into nurturing mode when tragedy strikes. But that's
not true, and Crimmins's honesty about her inability in that arena
gives the book yet another interesting layer to ponder.
WHERE
IS THE MANGO PRINCESS? is a tour de force, a book a writer never
thought she would have to write but, when she did, she discovered
the very best voice she has to offer the reading public. A wonderful
read.
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Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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