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Monday, May 12, 2014

Book Review and Preview: New Life, No Instructions: A Memoir By Gail Caldwell

This is a book review and preview of the book New Life, No Instructions: A Memoir by Gail Caldwell that was published on 1 April 2014.

The author Gail Caldwell has written two previous memoirs and this is her third. Gail lives in Massachusetts with her Samoyed dog named Tula.


This is a memoir of Gail's life. It takes you from her earliest childhood memories of doing exercises with her mother to help her with her polio through the dark stages of depression in her 30s and into who she is today, a grown woman reaching towards 60 who is facing a turning point in her life.

A lot of the story is based around Gail having polio which was quite common in the 1950s and how this affected her all throughout her life (although she often hated to show it!).

Gail has a love for animals and especially Samoyed's, the sled pulling snow dogs. She spent a lot of time explaining what it was like to raise pups into loyal dogs who will be by your side and your companion for life.

This was a fairly short and easy book to read that I finished in just a few days. I liked this book straight away, just a few pages in and I was hooked with the writing style because it was relaxed and flowed easily. I found Gail very likable although I did feel sorry for her illness and depressive stages in life that she went through. But she always stayed positive and had such a great outlook on life that you know she was a fighter and would come out on top. I also related well to the dog talk being a new fur Mum myself and know what it's like to have the unconditional love of a pet.
 
I recommend this book to dog lovers and also anyone struggling with an illness and interested in a true story of how you can overcome life's obstacles.
 
I give this book 3 stars out of 5

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch re-runs of Neighbours than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd pass up a pack of tim tams for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read


New Life, No Instructions: A Memoir can be purchased from Random House here 

Sharing my book review on Good Reads here

Disclosure: NetGalley partner with bloggers such as me to help promote their product. As part of this promotion I was given this eBook published by Random House to review. I have not received any payment or compensation for this review. I have not been told what to say about this product, I am free to form my own opinion and share them in my own words. All opinions are my own.


[Image via Random House]
 
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