The Place of Belonging- a memoir

The Place of Belonging

By Jayne Pearson Faulkner

ISBN# 1935265458

Retail: $13.99

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Description: This elegantly written story is told from the eyes of a child of a single mother, set in the 1940's in Big Sky Montana. Humorous, yet bracingly honest, The Place of Belonging stirs out basic feelings of wanting to belong somewhere and to someone. Beautifully and simply told, The Place of Belonging takes the reader on an unforgettable step back in time, a place many will recognize.

Anyone who has ever tried to fit in and belong will understand both the mother and child in this narrative and will see that separation and loss can sometimes be the very encounters that will ultimately bring wholeness.

Review: After reading the works of Jayne Pearson Faulkner, I feel like I have actually been to The Place of Belonging. It's as though I know each person she describes, and that by reading this book I have been invited to sit in the house where she grew up. When I close my eyes I can see the sky, a soft evening lavender with streaks of gold and orange, and the wheat fields running away to the edge of the green velvet hills. I imagine sitting in the living room's overstuffed chair that smelled of tractor oil and hired men, while Mom is humming cleaning the floor, as the faded linoleum seems to come to life again, its yellow and gray rectangle shapes dancing beneath her scrub rag.

The book brought peace to me as I read it, while making me laugh at the memories of being a child. The style is not just that of a narrative by a grown-up thinking back upon their life, instead it is told through the eyes of a child remembering every detail with innocence in full color. It's like Junie B. Jones for big people. Weaving descriptive words and lines, Jayne Pearson Faulkner paints a vivid picture on each page that draws you into the reality of her life on the farm. I want to sit down with brushes and paint every picture I just saw.

I laughed, I wondered, and as I read the last lines I cried, as this child, who was always on the verge of belonging, found that she did fit it, and it was right there in the middle of the farm which she now called home. This is absolutely beautiful, and is a book I will read again and again. 

By Rhonda Funk, Publicist and owner of Bring It On! Communications, Singer/Songwriter, and author of the Pookster and Bub™ children's series (Fish Pond Kids, 2010)

The thoughts expressed are simply my own.  You may or may not feel the same after reading this book, but we should would love to know! Get the book-read it-give us your best review-we can handle the truth!