Thursday, 29 July 2010
| Water Buffalo Reveals A Gazelle! |
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 REVIEW | By Frederick Rocque » Love hurts. And it shows as author Reva Leah Stern takes readers on a voyage of discovery into Rachel Morganstein’s (Krup) world of cherished memories, milestone moments, the dark side of humour and yes, pain!
Rachel’s scream for help begins with her desperate attempt to escape the sinking feeling of helplessness in abject rejection. She sets out contemplating four options to what she considers her only solution – suicide. Right from the start, Stern begins gently weaving in flashes of dark humour that punctuate the drama as the pages flow along.
In The Water Buffalo That Shed Her Girdle, Stern steers Rachel’s footsteps page-by-painstaking-page away from her present depressed state. Her touching narrative courses through Rachel’s life – her childhood to her rather eventful growing years, then as a young adult, and later to her travels from Ontario to Los Angeles, California.
The milestone moments include her relocation from the Town of Prescott, on the historic St. Lawrence river to Cabbagetown, on to the east side of downtown Toronto, a memorable first date with Harvey ‘Spinner’ Krup, her future husband. It’s also an encounter with Harvey’s image of the ‘water buffalo’. The image stays with Rachel all through the years, along with memories marking the celebration of a wedding notably as ‘a revelation in the ordinary’ which is further highlighted by the groom going missing at their wedding dance. But it was an idyllic life with Harvey in the early years, and this arm of the Krup family is blessed with four beautiful children – an equal number of guys and dolls. The family revels in great summers at their two-storey wood-framed cottage at Balsam Beach in Southern Ontario. Here Rachel spent her glory days as Entertainment Director of Balsam Beach, while their cottage quickly became the hub of a bohemian art world.
Stern also gives expression to the humorous side of Rachel’s married life: the couple is young, daring and sexually charged, but sometimes finds that the foreplay includes watching Harvey clip his toenails in bed.
After 15 years of marriage, the Krup honeymoon is overshadowed by dark clouds of discontent and Harvey’s fascination with Cabala. Thus begins the War of the Krups.
In the 236-page novel, Stern breathes life into Rachel’s agony, capturing her bitter and emotionally crippling divorce. She paints vivid word pictures of a mother’s struggle as a single parent and the moments leading up to her mind-numbing rejection by her son. Her 23-year-old redheaded superhero ‘baby’ son Aaron, excludes and expunges Rachel from his life as he prepares for his wedding – motherless! This singular event leaves Rachel mentally dehydrated.
As the pages of her turmoil unfold, Rachel slowly finds herself in control of her life, emerging as it were from the shadow of the water buffalo. It’s the Gitte Neshuma, good and pure soul returning to the land of love and a new life as her innocent little angel Gabriel helps Saftah (Grandma) Rachel shed her girdle and uncover a gazelle.
Along with this new phase comes realization of the eternal truth in the dance of life. Love hurts. And love heals!
 Reva Leah Stern has been writing and editing professionally for the past decade. She has also been extensively involved in theatre as a writer, director (guest director at several major theatres in the US) and casting director for nearly 30 years. Additionally, her manuscript The Prescott Journals (working title) was optioned for the screen prior to publication, and is set to become her second published novel. Stern has compiled a collection of short stories and a series of Children's books titled Tales from Grandma's Cupboard. Her additional publishing credits include writing for periodicals, magazines and newspapers including the National Post, and several years as an editor for Wellness Way Publications. The Water Buffalo That Shed Her Girdle is published by BookLand Press. For details, please visit Stern’s website at: www.revaleahstern.com
The Water Buffalo That Shed Her Girdle is also available at:
Coles Books | Pages Bookstore, Prescott, Ontario | Page & Turner Books, Collingwood, Ontario |
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