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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Drummer Girl by Sally Dukes is a memoir that moves from a crisis in early childhood through to an adulthood molded by travel, work, illness, and loss. Born prematurely after World War II, she undergoes heart surgery at a New York hospital and returns home to strict limitations and recurring night terrors. Adolescence and college years are marked by financial strain, moves, and early jobs. In her twenties, she settles in Nantucket, runs a seasonal food business, and meets the man she marries. Together they attend meditation retreats and travel through Asia, including India and Burma, where she spends months in monastic practice. Back in the United States, Dukes transitions into psychology studies and raising a family, and the inevitable changes that come as we age.
I was drawn to Drummer Girl by Sally Dukes for a number of reasons. Like her, I was born and raised in San Francisco. I, too, traveled to all of the same places, sans Burma, that she had in my young adulthood, and I also have the dreaded genetic marker that she describes later in her work. But this is Dukes' story, and it was great to see how someone with so much in common with me walked her path and where it took her. Dukes writes in language that is conversational and feels like a chat with a friend, and the descriptions of where she went are practically cinematic, including a climb in the Taj Mahal. All of this is written with direct observation and quiet humor. Dukes neither instructs nor persuades. She records what happened, how she responded, and what remained afterward. That approach gives the memoir the relaxed feel of a life shaped by belief and human connection, and it is wonderful. Very highly recommended.
