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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In her memoir Glimpses of Grace, Judith E. Bowen describes how she learned to receive and offer care in her life. She opens the memoir in her Rio Grande Valley yard, touching a green anole, a moment that leads her to examine an early childhood shaped by two maternal figures, her birth mother and her grandmother. Through adulthood, Bowen strengthens her understanding that care is formed in lived situations. Central is the adoption of Mary Kim Johnson in 1973, when Bowen responds with daily commitment to a child affected by neglect and silence. Bowen later discusses motherhood when Mary becomes an adult and a parent herself. As Bowen faces vision loss, cancer, widowhood, and aging, the memoir tracks how she learns to ask for help, remain present, and continue giving care in different ways.
Glimpses of Grace by Judith E. Bowen is such a lovely memoir. I went in thinking it would mostly be religious in tone, but it is actually very attuned to a multitude of traditions and faiths. It is clear that Bowen has a nurturing heart, and we see this in her care of her husband and daughter. What is extra special is how Bowen has learned to turn that love back to herself, and through her difficulties has discovered that the world around her will provide everything she needs. In a more traditional angle, I love how she describes prayer through an icon displayed at her church, where the image of a mother holding a child mirrors a sketch she once made of her daughter. The most touching to me is her experience in a sweat lodge, where a healer speaks directly to her about integrity and relinquishing control over her husband’s illness. This is a well-written, beautifully honest memoir that is absolutely worth a read. Recommended.
