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An Ordinary Life

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Assembled from snippets of memory, moments of pure enjoyment, and lessons learned, Amy files an entire existence letter by letter. It's unclear if she knew her life would be cut short by cancer twelve years after the book’s publication but it seems unlikely, making the very heart of the book that much more precious and powerful. The book takes the "hermit crab" form of an encyclopedia. It's an encyclopedia on Amy's life, but it doesn't attempt any grand strokes and it doesn't profess a linear narrative. It's all agate material, all nuggets, focused on mundane but keen observations of situations, emotions, and curiosities. Through that structure, though, she builds up a wonderful sense of her character, her experiences, and a range of moods and subtle insights that resonated with me. The book is almost like you're eating or drinking up Amy's essence a spoonful at a time.

I have loved every book I have read by Amanda Prowse. She writes with so much passion that I can't help becoming a part of her stories. She is my go-to author when it comes to contemporary fiction, family drama, and emotional portrayal. When I saw that this wonderful author had written An Ordinary Life I just had to read her book. Wow, she did not disappoint!With themes of PTSD, spies, societal expectations and family, Amanda Prowse has written a beautifully described story that is filled with love, danger, tension, sacrifice and heartbreak. From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a tale of love, loss—and one last extraordinary dance. While Stauffer says much of this change needs to happen on big, structural levels, "young adults can start renegotiating what matters to them before you get to a place of crisis."

Ann Shearer was a journalist on The Guardian when she first learned of the often appalling conditions in what were then still called ‘mental subnormality’ hospitals. This led in 1971 to her co-founding the Campaign for Mentally Handicapped People, later called Values into Action (VIA), which worked for the replacement of hospitals with community-based services based on principle not pragmatism and disseminated international examples of good practice. It was also the first organisation in the UK to consult people with learning difficulties and publicise their views. VIA Scotland is still going strong. Roselyn Weinberg is a co-researcher at RIX Inclusive Research, UEL. She began working with RIX on various projects in 2006. Roselyn has been involved in numerous training and research initiatives. She is a strong advocate who actively represents the rights of individuals with learning disabilities in different committees and boards. Roselyn is passionate about promoting inclusion and creating easy to read and easy to understand information. Having those conversations with yourself, with your friends, with your peers really strips away the isolation that we are each individually the only one feeling this way or [...] kind of disenchanted by work," says Stauffer. "Your worth does not have to come from your job. Your dreams don't have to be tethered to your job. And neither of those things means that you've failed at work." There is no perfect next place. Amy was actually the Goddess of Creativity...Creativity dripped out of her fingers every time she wrote and it spilled out of her mouth every time she spoke and it surged from her body every time she moved.

In Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Amy Krouse Rosenthal has ingeniously adapted the centuries-old format of the encyclopedia to convey the accumulated knowledge of her lifetime in a poignant, wise, often funny, fully realized memoir. Using mostly short entries organized from A to Z, many of which are cross-referenced, Rosenthal captures in wonderful and episodic detail the moments, observations, and emotions that comprise a contemporary life. Start anywhere—preferably at the beginning—and see how one young woman’s alphabetized existence can open up and define the world in new and unexpected ways. As you read Molly’s story the years go by, she grows old and her secret is always on her mind. The story revolves around Molly finding peace with her past, accepting that she made the right decision as a young woman and at a very difficult time for her. Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of An Ordinary Life, I enjoyed the story, maybe it could have been a little shorter and three stars from me. However, the story ran slightly longer than I would have preferred. I felt that the chapters towards the end could have been shorter as the general idea of her life was already conveyed by then.

It was OK. I'm not complaining about her writing skills; she has nothing to blush for. But the book itself--the content--did not work for me.

Audiobooks

Amanda Prowse is a prolific author never fails to write a book I enjoy. She is a wonderful storyteller and creates characters who seem so real and who you take to heart. Although this novel is a little different with its historical focus, as ever I was caught up with the life of her heroine through all its ups and downs. Molly didn’t have an ordinary life. She had an extraordinary life, although in her later years she was content to live an ordinary life. Through her we see how women throughout time have had to face adversity with strength and courage. Her resilience was admirable and her secret was heart-breaking. Having not read Amanda Prowse before I had no idea what to expect, apart from what the premise outlined that had initially drawn me to the book for it's wartime subplot. And yet I wasn't prepared for the emotions it evoked in me. I can see why she is such a high-rated author as she has that ability to draw you in and make you feel as if you are the main protagonist with all her experiences of love, life and loss. I was initially drawn to this book for his historical fiction aspect but it's the easy contemporary style that leaves you feeling emotive. Startled would be an understated word. And I can't even fathom the language used to highlight his countless debauch encounters. Yes, he hails from a small town village in Uttar Pradesh and expectedly (although unfortunate) the 'Sadak Chaap' bearing.

Steven says that the only thing he knew of the 1950s were the great historical events: the Korean War, the Suez crisis, the GP in Switzerland. When I see a slow driver, I have to pull up alongside him to see what this person looks like, to confirm my suspicions. I am certain I will find a distinctly stupid-looking person. Ah yes, he looks totally stupid. Stupid slow driver.” Country bumpkin' is used as a casual excuse many times during the course of the book. But this is no uneducated, underprivileged person talking. This is a science graduate with a fulltime job who quit to study acting. This is an NSD graduate who found that Mumbai's film industry still wouldn't offer him work on a silver platter just because of that NSD tag. This is the eldest of 9 children whose parents made sacrifices to give him an education, chose to accept all of that, then switch life paths and start again, sponge off his younger sibling and then complain that the world had done him wrong. A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5’s ‘The Jeremy Vine Show’ and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, ‘A Mother’s Story’ won the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the year Award while ‘Perfect Daughter’ was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016. Molly's story, her secret, her life...is anything but an ordinary life. It has known tragedy, heartache, loss, grief and pain but it has also known love, happiness, hope and even contentment. Her story is one that will touch you and leave you with tears of sadness as well as happiness.

Lake Union

There were a few times where I said Yes! That is exactly how I feel! But mostly it was a study in not-like-ness. Oh, there were a few times when I said Ewww! or (eyebrows raised, eyes half-closed, mouth scrunched up) You Are Weird. But mostly I was saying You are not like me because you grew up in a different time and place and subculture. Not that I would dislike you, but we would not really understand one another most of the time. Other than being American and wives/mothers, we don't have very much in common. And after a whole book of that, I felt kind of aloof, because everybody gets it but me, and I don't want to get it. Pathetic. Smutty. Irrelevant. If perhaps I am the only one who finds, Nawazuddin Siddiqui's memoir, an extremely cheap write-up, then so be it. Although these artists are famous – their works are in the greatest galleries and fetch enormous prices if they come up at auction – their tentative revolution hasn’t as yet properly succeeded. Today – in modern versions of epic, aristocratic, or divine art – adverts and movies continually explain to us the appeal of things like sports cars, tropical island holidays, fame, first-class air travel and expansive limestone kitchens. The attractions are often perfectly real. But the cumulative effect is to instill in us the idea that a good life is built around elements that almost no one can afford. The conclusion we too easily draw is that our lives are close to worthless. It’s as if us little cars on the side of the road are cheering, Go! Go! You can do it! Go, important ambulance, go! The experience invariably leaves me feeling proud and giddy.”

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