This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Rossandra White, secure in marriage to the American man of her dreams took up writing to quiet the voices from the past back home in Africa. The result: Monkey’s Wedding and Mine Dances, two young adult novels about family, race, and the dark magic of a society poised on the brink of change. And then her world fell apart when her marriage unraveled, along with a crisis back home in Africa and the worsening ill health of her beloved dog. Loveyoubye, her memoir, resulted as a way to heal the past and to face the future. She lives in Laguna Beach, California with her two Staffordshire Bull Terriers with whom she fights for space in her bed. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Pilates, Jazzercise, and hiking the hills behind her home in Laguna canyon.
Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, and Then There's the Dog by Rossandra White is a beautiful memoir that revolves around the author's story of loss. Rossandra White finds her world crumbling when her husband of twenty-five years walks out on her without any explanation. She realizes that probably there were cracks in their marriage which she did not notice and which increased over time. White returns to South Africa for a while to take care of her disabled younger brother and, when she gets back to California, she finds that her dog Sweetpea is seriously ill. Sweetpea is the one who forms a connection between her husband and her. She has to take a decision which will change her life, that is to either leave her husband and start a new life or stay in a marriage that is over.
It is a fantastic read with a lot of heart wrenching moments that will make readers feel sad, compassionate and grateful. The story of holding onto a marriage that is breaking up and the emotional struggles and pain of the author is relatable and believable. The shuttling of the scenes from California to South Africa adds another dimension to the memoir and it is an intensely personal write. The dog Sweetpea has also an important role in the book. It is a story of loss, letting go and acceptance. The slow death of a long marriage and all the events connected to it will make readers laugh and cry at the same time.
