Review by Carolyn WIlhelm for MBR

Pioneer days conjure up romantic, sentimental ideas of simple living and being close to nature. However, the truth also included lawless, rugged, difficult times. Native Americans and those from Europe mined, traveled, worked, logged, and sailed Lake Superior’s frontier wilderness amid uncivilized criminals, kidnappers, and slavers. Laws were few, enforcement was scarce, violent events were often, and shipwrecks were many. Wonderful life-saving deeds of kindness and compassion are also recorded on these pages as opportunities to be a hero were many.

Consider mining. Yes, rarely paired with pioneers such as Laura Ingalls Wilder, yet it is part of history at the same time. And Lake Superior! So few people understand how cold it is year-round (about 40 degrees) or how many shipwrecks (about 350) have taken place in the deepest waters of the Great Lakes. Before modern mariner tools, sailors had a strenuous, grueling life when pirates were plundering boats. Surviving crashes in winter required ingenuity and persistence unless a body became an icicle. And slavers trafficked women to stockades, as detailed in the book.

Classen does history an excellent service by revealing the truth. Sometimes we think humanity has advanced little. An attitude quickly challenged in these pages. Readers will feel gratitude for all they have today after finishing these tales.

True Tales: The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
Mikel B. Classen
Modern History Press
https://www.modernhistorypress.com
B09WJMKV12, $5.95 Kindle
9781615996353, $29.95 HC, $18.95 PB, 162 pp.

Carolyn Wilhelm, Reviewer
Wise Owl Factory LLC

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Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors [HC]

Name: Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors [HC]
Brand: Modern History Press
SKU: 978-1-61599-765-7
Price: 33.95 USD
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Messages from My Ancestors

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UPC: 978-1-61599-765-7

Brand: Modern History Press

Binding: Hardcover

Audiobook: Audible, iTunes

Edition: 1st

Author: Diana Raab

Pages: 174

Publication Date: 01/15/2024

PRE-ORDER ONLY -- ORDERS PLACED TODAY WILL BE SHIPPED 01/15/2024

Hummingbird is a spiritual memoir about the connection between three generations of women—the author, her mother and maternal grandmother, who was her primary caretaker until she took her life when the author was ten. Her wisdoms taught the author how to exist in the world. For more than five decades she carried these wisdoms with her as an author, nurse, research psychologist, teacher, cancer survivor, mother and grandmother. Her grandmother taught her how to follow her intuition and listen to her heart. The book also creates a bridge between her grandmother as a cholera pandemic survivor and the author’s experience with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raab has a photo of her grandmother on her desk. When she stares into her eyes, she’s given clear messages. The deepest connection with her grandmother materialized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her magic emerged via hummingbird visitations outside her writing studio. Woven into the narrative of their relationship is Raab’s journey and life challenges: being raised by a narcissistic mother, loss of loved ones, meeting her soulmate, raising three becoming a grandmother, and passing on her legacy. She illustrates how her grandmother’s spirit gave her comfort and strength.

Diana Raab's new memoir explores the depths of love and loss across three generations of women. The book includes six decades of stories and universal truths garnered in the three generations of women. It also includes elements of female relationships, the power of empathy, tapping into deeper knowing, as well as nurturing emotional wellness, fostering gratitude, interconnectedness, and the importance of storytelling.Hummingbird touches on how we can continue to connect with our ancestors. The book’s themes are blended into the magic of the circle of life, as Raab makes peace with the hummingbird which represents the traumas, wisdoms, love and survival of three generations of women.

Learn more at www.DianaRaab.com

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