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Decades after spending a summer in the Irish countryside with her parents -- author Deborah Love and National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen -- Rue takes her young family back to Ireland to revisit locales from that season in the sixties. As a guide, she has her mother's poetic book, Annaghkeen, named for the castle that overlooked their home in Galway.
What begins as a simple, nostalgic trip quickly becomes something far more complex. As Rue approaches Annaghkeen Castle and digs deeper into her parents' literary legacy, a trove of memories is unearthed, forcing her to reckon with a childhood fraught with the stormy energy of two brilliant parents often at odds with each other and their children.
Both a rich and informative travelogue and a profoundly emotional memoir, Castles & Ruins celebrates the triumph of creative success while frankly appraising the often-terrible costs a family must pay for it.
Praise for Castles & Ruins:
"Matthiessen's powerful storytelling vividly portrays her childhood and coming-of-age years... thought-provoking and moving." ~Edith Wairimu, Readers' Favorite
"Rue Matthiessen's heartfelt memoir, Castles & Ruins is, in essence, configured like a Celtic cross... we see how the figure of the circle is at the very center of Matthiessen's being. Celtic tradition calls for both mourning and celebrating at death. Precisely the emotions and the rituals that Rue Matthiessen gives the reader in this complex, deeply felt work." ~Lou Ann Walker, The East Hampton Star
"More than halfway through the memoir, Rue acknowledges, 'I was arrogant when I began this quest. I believed that I would control the story. Nothing would go into it that I couldn't create or re-create. But I hadn't been prepared for what would be exposed under scrutiny.' Regardless of the initial impulse to manipulate, Rue doesn't. Instead, she delivers an unflinching, often painful account of a period in her childhood, and then contrasts this with the wife and mother she was able to become in spite of it all. The gift of herself, present and engaged, that she gives to her son, Emmett, is deeply touching and provides a much-needed counterpoint to the story of her early life." ~Jane Ward, Story Circle Network
"Rue Matthiessen writes with sublime eloquence and deep insight about two complex parents: a highly spirited mother who died prematurely and left her deeply bereft, and a famous yet distant father, Peter Matthiessen, who loved her but could not hold her close. One of the best books about childhood, the elusiveness of memory, and loss that I have ever read." ~Michael Haggiag, former director of Global Arts Productions
"Castles & Ruins is inspired by a summer Rue Matthiessen spent in Galway with her husband and son, when she returned to the place of one of her most idyllic childhood memories, hoping to recapture the magic with her own child... But will she be able to rediscover the castle of her childhood memories? Or will she find only ruins?" ~Mom Egg Review
"Castles & Ruins is a masterpiece, a must-read for anyone who sees beauty in the broken, finds solace in the unraveled, and believes that stories, like ancient stones, hold the power to illuminate the paths of the present." ~Midnights Book Tours
"Prepare to be transported through the vibrant landscapes of Ireland as Rue Matthiessen unravels a captivating tale in her memoir, Castles & Ruins. This enchanting narrative goes beyond the ordinary, immersing readers in a world where the past and present converge in a lyrical dance of memories, familial bonds, and the enduring legacy of literary brilliance." ~Twins Reading Books
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