Book Review:: DESPERATELY SEEKING PERSEPHONE by Janet Rudolph

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK:

BOOK TITLE: DESPERATELY SEEKING PERSEPHONE: The true story of my Shamanic Journey through the Underworld.

AUTHOR OF BOOK: Janet Rudolph

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS: Jandelion@aol.com 

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: /mysticpagan.com/ /feminismandreligion.com/

 

 Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to

reprint their review in its entirety. 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Elizabeth Cunningham is the author of numerous books

including My Life as a Prayer: A Multifaith Memoir and The Maeve Chronicles

5.0 out of 5 stars 

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2023 on Amazon

REVIEW:

DESPERATELY SEEKING, JOYFULLY BEING FOUND

Rudolph takes us with her on a journey that is at once deeply personal to her and

as well as mythic. In her story, interwoven with Persephone’s and Inanna’s, we may

recognize elements of our own, find inspiration and companionship for our own quest

and questions. Janet also reminds us that life is full of mysteries, time spirals

backward and forward; we not only seek but we are also found by human angels who

come into our lives when we most need them, and who are, in some way, always with

us. This beautiful, thoughtful, funny, poetic memoir gives the reader comfort and

inspires awe.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER:  Elizabeth Cunningham has written numerous

other novels including The Return of the Goddess and The Wild Mother. She lives in

the valley of the Mahicantuck (the river that flows both ways) on unceded land that

was home to the Esopus Tribe of the Lenape. She is at work on a fairytale novel. For

more visit her website: https://elizabethcunninghamwrites.com/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED:  Janet

Rudolph is a wife, lover, mother, grandmother, seeker, finder, earth-breather, water-

swimmer, there is no end to her descriptions. She has traveled to many sacred places

in the world to soak up knowledge and experience culture. Along the way she earned

two shamanic initiations and written a few books including When Moses Was a

Shaman, and When Eve Was a Goddess.. She writes wherever and whenever she can

to express, heal, inform, challenge, startle and to expand love. She is a contributor and

co-weaver at /feminismandreligion.com/ You can visit her website for more

information at https://themysticpagan.com/

Book Review: The Famous Phoebe of Long Isand

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: 

THE FAMOUS PHOEBE OF LONG ISLAND: Phoebe's Adventures at Sailors Haven

 

AUTHOR OF BOOK's NAME: Jean Derespina

 

AUTHOR'S EMAIL ADDRESS jeand.tmg@gmail.com

 

AUTHOR'S FAVORITE LINKS: www.FamousPhoebeofLI.com

 

ADD THIS ASSURANCE TO SATISFY COPYRIGHT LAW: 

 __Yes, I have received permission from the reviewer to reprint their review in its entirety. 

 

REVIEWER’S BYLINE: Rita Plush, Fire Island News Book Review Columnist

 

INCLUDE THE REVIEW ITSELF

Long Islander Jean Derespina, a writer of marketing materials, has brought her affection for Fire Island and its seashore to the pages of a children’s book. 

This is a story about Phoebe, a puppy who is adopted from a shelter and has adventures on Sailors Haven with her new parents, Jeana and Frank. It is a warm and engaging story that will resonate with anyone who has a dog or is thinking of adopting one. But the book is more than that. It’s about feeling loved and protected, and though the tale is told from a puppy’s point of view, it could very well be a child who is telling the story. 

Phoebe is “the luckiest puppy in the world because out of all the puppies in the shelter, I got picked by the nicest family. They love me very much.” And off they motor in their boat into the Great South Bay, Phoebe “more than a little scared at first,” but Jeana held her close while Frank drove. 

Phoebe has many experiences at Sailors Haven. She makes friends as children do, and her excitement is palpable when she learns she can swim. In the forest she comes upon animals she has never seen before. “A long, skinny animal that didn’t have legs or paws wiggled right by us!” 

On the walk back to the beach, Phoebe notices three deer grazing and makes the connection that her parents are going to have their dinner too, linking humans to the animal world. 

Venturing out on her own, Phoebe dashes down the beach after a bird in flight. After the bird is out of sight she worries. “Where was everyone? Where was I? I was alone, and I was really scared,” her doggie brain thinks, but her fears could just as well be the fears of a child. 

I can see a parent reading this story and saying to their little one. “You must never run away or go where we can’t find you,” the child nodding solemnly. 

The soft watercolor drawings by Amelina Jones play on the easy narrative. Jones uses blues, blue/greens for water, and browns for the puppy and vegetation in many of the illustrations, but she is not confined to a limited palette. Variations of yellow and yellow/greens come up in a spread where the family is walking through Sunken Forest, the prose set on the page as if illuminated by the sun. On the other end of the spectrum is black, used lavishly in a dramatic nighttime scene. The pages come to life with little pinpoints of white like “millions of stars lighting up the sky.” The boat’s “gentle rocking kept [Phoebe] asleep all night,” as the family headed back to shore. 

And that’s what this book is: a gentle story about family, with little Phoebe its centerpiece.

Link to the review: https://www.fireislandnews.com/arts-culture/book-reviews/the-famous-phoebe-of-long-island-phoebes-adventures-at-sailors-haven/

 

 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Rita Plush has been the book reviewer for The Fire Island News since 2015. Learn more at her website https://ritaplush.com/about, or at https://www.fireislandnews.com/.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHOSE BOOK IS BEING REVIEWED:  

Jean is a member of the SCBWI and is on the Board of Directors of the Long Island Author Group. 

 

For years, Jean held positions as a corporate content developer. During her marketing career, she always made timeto indulge in her passion for writing children's stories. In 2014, Jean left the corporate world to start my own company, The Marketing Gig, LLC. After an encouraging start, she was seriously injured in an accident that required over a year’s recovery. Writing played an instrumental role in her healing process.

 

Post rehabilitation, Jean released two self-published two picture books, which have sold over 1,500 copies. They are in circulation at approximately six libraries and on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. Learn more about Jean and The Famous Phoebe of Long Island at https://www.famousphoebeofli.com/. 

Twitter @JeandAuthor