Overall: 🐢🐢🐢
Storyline:
Writing Style:
Character Development:
Enjoyment:
“The moon still knew where she lived.”
The Well of Truth: Stories of Spirit by Elizabeth A. Gould
The Story:
Incorporating elements of fantasy, mysticism, and lore, The Well of Truth follows a female heroine through poignant moments of her adult life. Through the initiations of marriage, raising children, getting divorced, going through menopause, losing loved ones, and ultimately making an independent life for herself, she gains insight and spiritual wisdom from unexpected places.
These short stories are filled with reflections on feminine resilience, power, and agency.
Key Elements:
Fiction, Heroine, Short Stories, Life, Faith, Growing up, Memories, Nature
Why This Rating?
Starting off, I want everyone to know this story doesn’t only apply to the female hero in the story and the things that she faces throughout life. These stories and spotlights on key moments in time are moments and events that everyone and anyone can experience. They speak to all of those out there that have had a difficult time adapting to the norms people have placed on the world. There are moments of happiness, sadness, levels of high achievements, and trenches of loss. But we never know what life is going to toss at us. Elizabeth Gould highlights these very things with her character Grace.
I loved the fact that we start in on Grace’s life when she is in her 20s (I assume in middle 20s since she is college age). There are so many stories that are “coming of age” for the young individuals in the world – 14/15 to 17/19 in age a.k.a Young Adult stories. But this novel follows the “coming of age” story for a woman already through the beginning struggles in life and is now just living the true struggle, well honestly.. the true struggle of life.
This is a much quicker read than some of the other books I’ve picked up; that being said, I don’t think this book needed to be any longer to get across the importance of these flash memories and moments we are seeing from Grace. These short stories in this novel are meant to show a huge change and growth moments for our main character. They shine a light on moments that some of us face daily and others may never experience but we can empathize with. It is a very inspiring story to see this woman go thru life’s ups and downs and manage to stand back up. She finds that inner strength to accept the latest thing that she is dealt and makes it work. Grace’s determination screams through the words Gould has written.
The wisdom Grace receiving throughout the book either from others or the individuals she sends her prayers towards, are very powerful things to remember. I felt like this book was similar to a coaching novel and intended to give the readers little pushes here and there to help in life. Not necessarily new lifestyle changes. These are more thought impressions. Little moments that can make you pause just a moment such as: to remember when you might forget to care for yourself before you help others or to think about why someone is acting a particular way.
These are the 10 takeaways I found within this novel:
- You’ve got to trust in yourself to know who the true You really is. Only you really know.
- Breathe, there is time for the moments that have to happen.
- Experience connects everything to everyone. You aren’t alone in your experiences.
- Love for yourself must happen before you can have inner peace and give love to others.
- Treat yourself to a little TLC. Everyone will benefit from you doing this!
- Events in life (good and bad) come and go like the tide. Remember, “This too will pass.”
- Try seeing past the ugly of the day and find the truth of the events. Wear the other person’s shoes often.
- Embrace the day! Live it to the fullest with all the intensity you can.
- Don’t let fear keep you from loving and enjoying the pleasures in life.
- Somethings have to leave and die in order for the new things to be revealed and born.
I thought this was a good book. I can see myself picking this one up for a quick read to help remember some of the lessons found within the pages. There is a lot of symbolism mixed throughout the pages that I feel a second or third read through would be very beneficial. It was also a very different book than my usual reads. I am use to a lot of action and drama, perhaps a bit of romance and temptation mixed in too. However, this was a novel full of stories that were just about living. Nothing hiding, nothing over the top. Just a woman trying to find herself as she lives her life. We see marriage and children, love and death, heartbreak and soaring adventures. Each one building more of a life and character than I really thought was going to happen in such a small book. If you want a short novel and maybe a little insight as to how I got my 10 takeaways out of this 130 page book, you should totally pick up this novel and give it a try!
Time to get lost in the next story!
