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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Review: When All That's Left of Me is Love by Linda Campanella

When All That's Left of Me is Love by Linda Campanella

Publisher: Tate Publishing & Enterprises 
Pages: 228 
Format: book
Buy the Book: Amazon  


Goodreads:  Linda Campanella's emotional account of her last year with her mother, Nancy Sachsse, wrote itself on the pages of her mind as she lay awake unable to sleep in the days and weeks following Nan's death one year and one day after a diagnosis of terminal cancer. It is a heartwarming memoir filled with insights and inspirations that will help anyone jolted into confronting the inevitability and sudden imminence of death. Join the author as she reconstructs and relives a year of living while dying and, in the process, comes to terms with the pain and permanence of her loss. When All That's Left of Me Is Love is indeed a sad story born of death, but it is above all an uplifting portrait of living, loving, believing, and letting go. It is a celebration of the special bond between mothers and daughters, a touching love story, a spiritual journey, a poetry lesson, and even a case for happy hour. This story of a daughter's undying love for her dying mother will move and inspire not only those who face or fear death but also those who love and embrace life. 




Kritters Thoughts:  A heartwrenching story that had me in tears quite a few times, but with a sweet and simple message I am ever thankful that I read it.  A woman's story about the last year of her mother's life after she is diagnosed with terminal stage IV cancer - this book is more than just journaling the last days of her mother's life, but a helpful guide to those who may be experiencing the same last days of a loved one.


As a young woman, my mother is still fit and very active, at times more active than me!  She attends book signings with me and often comes and spends weekends shopping and just spending time with me.  She is an active grandparent to a toddler and loves to go to the gym with my little sister.  I am not near this time in my mom's life, but maybe this was the perfect time for me to read this book.  It made me stop and appreciate what moment I am in with my mom, but to store away some helpful tips for what the future could hold with me, my sister and our parents.  


I would recommend this book to women my age who may not be on the cusp of dealing with a parent death, but can absorb the tips of living each day while the idea of death isn't in the back of our minds.   




Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.  


Other tour stops:


Tuesday, April 3rd: Hospitable Pursuits
Wednesday, April 4th: The Book Garden
Thursday, April 5th: The Feminist Texican [Reads]
Monday, April 9th: EmSun
Tuesday, April 10th: The Book Bag
Wednesday, April 11th: Good Girl Gone Redneck
Thursday, April 12th: BookNAround
Saturday, April 21st: Kritters Ramblings
Wednesday, April 25th: Silver & Grace
Thursday, April 26th: Life in the Thumb


3 comments:

  1. I saw this title on several sites and was interested in your review. Now I have mixed feelings but I think I would like this.
    I lost my mom to cancer when she was a young 48 and I was 21. It has been many years (I am older than she was at her death) and there are still moments of pain and loss.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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  2. Kristin, Thanks for reading my book and sharing your reactions so honestly. Martha, I hope you WILL decide to read it, despite mixed feelings. If you the reactions from other daughters who've read it (see amazon.com or my web site, www.lindacampanella.tateauthor.com), you'll find that many have said my story reconnected them with their own stories and their own mothers. One woman, for example, wrote that she "found so much to relate to and bring me solace about my own mother's death as I read." The book really is a celebration of mother-daughter relationships. It is about bonds that never break and love that never dies. If you do read the book, I hope you will be moved by it. Feel free to share your reactions with me via the web site.
    Linda Campanella

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  3. I'm glad that this book touched you. Thanks for being on the tour!

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