Book Reviews

Book Review: ‘All That She Wrote’ by Charmaine L. Glass

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Title: All She Wrote

Author: Charmaine L. Glass

Place of publication: Elmont, NY, USA.

Publisher: Enaz SOUL (An imprint of Seaburn Publishing Group)

Date of publication:  October 20, 2016

Number of pages: 182

The Book Review:


Charmaine L. Glass
weaves a story of love, romance and the angst of it all through a collection of autobiographical poetry in the book ‘All That She Wrote’. The book gradually progresses from the pain of betrayal; a love went wrong, to finding new love and eventually the beauty of finding her true self through the tears and laughter of it all.
The Book begins with the first poem ‘A Long Time Ago’ and the lines

“Lock the door
Hang up that key”.

Charmaine rightly asks her readers to ‘lock the door hang up the key’ because this book is going to make its reader live and relive the whole gamut of a relationship that is un-put-down-able. She moves through the pain of love lost. As a reader, I felt her loss and confusion in “After the love is gone How do I go on?” She moves on through a series of reflective poems that talk about how she understands that her man is cheating on her, yet she is not able to overcome the relationship.

The poet further questions how although she tries to maintain the status quo and keep the relationship alive, she feels ‘cousinly’ in the poem “Cousins”. Her talks about how the various distractions of another woman, an interfering mother and her own inability to move on, brings the main character immense misery and lack of self-esteem. We then see Charmaine find a new love. The previous relationship has made her strong to witness the ups and downs with more courage and as a reader, I witness that change of thought and conviction in the words,

“I’m confident in our love
For all the good times and bad
I’m confident in making up
Learning to trust…”

These words follow a series of beautiful love poems, ‘Grown Girl’s Lullaby’, ‘Sleep, Still in Love’, ‘So In Love’, ‘The Reason I Breathe’, ‘What’s Valentine’s?’, ‘Use Me’, ‘Trust You with My Heart’ and more.

These poems are worthy of being christened ‘Proposal Poems’. I am convinced that no beloved would be able to deny or stall a commitment after listening to these words of the heart.

The book takes an intimate turn where love flourishes in a tactile, sensual mood. Desire oozes its unadulterated strums of magic in a series of verses. With a thumping heart, a reader can only turn pages for more! ‘7:09’, ‘Kitchen’, ‘Rescue Me’, and ‘Trembling’ are brilliant pieces that showcase the poet, Charmaine L. Glass’s versatility. ‘Juggling’ is one of my favorites where the poem transforms from excitement to stunning! The poet talks about longing for a loved one, she talks about lonely business trips and more yearning. She etches a beautiful sketch through poems like ‘Crying In My Suitcase’, ‘Lonely Road’, ‘It’s Just a Trip’, ‘Tripping’, ‘Orchid’, ‘My everything’, ‘Mr. Unreachable’ showcase moods, choices, friendship and the myriad of varied human relationships and emotions.

The book flows in the direction of personal victories, such as moving on from hurt, the pride, and contentment of getting published. Furthermore, we hear the poet talk about ‘Writer’s Block’ and the dilemma of not being able to put emotions to words successfully. ‘Blank Page’, ‘Last Chapter’ makes beautiful verses.

The haste of adolescence, its repercussions, an abusive relationship, the challenge of rehabilitating a onetime prisoner, racial and gender-based discrimination are pertinent issues in any society. These matters are often overlooked by society yet there is a dire need to address them. Charmaine L. Glass boldly talks about them. She makes the readers see both the sides of the story by giving a realistic, accurate and touching estimate. Her words provoke the readers to take steps to stop the violence, the injustice. The book also talks about faith and belief in the almighty. We see how growth in faith leads to metamorphosis in human kind. We hear the poet’s voice resonate with confidence- a renewed energy and the compassion to love oneself, to victory of self-awareness-

“Through trials, I stand
Rising above all of our troubles”.


Further Analysis:

The book of poems ‘All that She Wrote’ has well-defined chapters. They help the story progress seamlessly. The poet maintains the plot, takes care of the main character throughout the 182 pages. Commendably she is able to add positivity, maturity, and expansion of the main character.
Reviewing the book was full of learning and an absolute pleasure.

All That She Wrote’ by Charmaine L. Glass is a book I will recommend all to read- from teenagers to adults. The book will help understand teenagers and young people in love, what relationship is all about. This book will educate the youngsters about when to say no, when to let go and when to move on. For the adults, the book is going to be a reminder of the things every person goes through to find true happiness. This book is a pearl in the real world. The words are precious and true.

Definitely,  more than a one time read, I will go back to this book again and again. It’s definitely a book that you can proudly display as a collectible.

Rating:

All That She Wrote’ by Charmaine L. Glass absolutely deserves a 5 Stars.

 

Book Review: ©welovequalitybooks.biz

 

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