Book Review

Torch by Cheryl Strayed

Sometimes a book becomes more than a book...for me, usually it is a book of poetry, or a poem in particular, something to hang on to when things are not going well. You know those days/weeks/God help you if it's months, when things just falling badly like dominos, one falling brick after another, until you are wondering if there is an ancient gypsy curse on your family or what. This has been my March. A friend had recommended awhile ago that I read an essay in The Sun by Cheryl Strayed which led to me getting her book, this book. From the opening line "She ached." I was drawn in to the lives of these characters, vibrating with so much life that at the book's close, I feel I know them, that I will refer to them in my memory as people I have cared for. I am a very speedy reader when I want to be, but I delayed this book, held its pages at bay, to help me walk through some difficult days. It was nice knowing that at the day's end, I could rest my head on my pillow and open the book up, and be in Midden with these people I had come to care so deeply about. A terrific book from a gifted writer. Can't wait for the next one.