Recreating Eden: A Bonus for Monday: The Violets Are in Bloom!

Great Reviews for Road through Time

This just in: a terrific review of Road through Time in the April 15 Library Journal that ends: "VERDICT This accessible work about an integral aspect of human life is a must-read for all interested in society, past and present."

And Publishers' Weekly also is laudatory:
"Soderstrom constructs a...layperson’s guide in bright, conversational prose, skillfully using her own experiences and just-so stories about the peoples of the past as springboards to exploring humankind’s long history of migration." Publishers' Weekly"

What Musicians Say about River Music

It's always nice when people that you write about like what you write. I'm no musician, and one of the big unknowns about River Music was what musicians might think. In fact, I was so unsure that I went out of my way not to ask musicians I knew what their opinion was.

But to my great delight, the reaction of musicians has been spontaneous and very positive. Here are three:

From pianist Jana Stuart:

"Mary, I just finished River Music. I could not put it down. I related so much to the character of Gloria Murray and the plight of the young pianist. I loved it to pieces. "

From Madeleine Owen, lutist and artistic director, Ensemble La Cigale:

"Gloria, is tough and not always likable and yet, I had to recognize some of her difficult choices as merely typical of what a musician, especially a woman, has to do in order to succeed in the competitive world of music."

And Cléo Palacio-Quintin, flûtiste-compositrice says:

"River Music nous emporte dans le flot d'une vie musicale riche en émotions. Dans un rythme fluide, Mary Soderstrom transcrit avec finesse la passion intime d'une interprète pour sa musique...difficile de poser le livre avant la fin."

The Walkable City Keeps on Going: New Review in the Canadian Literature

"Soderstrom would readily admit that her general argument in favour of pedestrian-friendly communities is not a new one: walkability is a firmly established principle of sustainability-oriented planning. However, the book serves as a fine, up-to-date introduction to this still-pertinent issue. Soderstrom’s judiciously selective overview of the history of walking and its changing place in urban life (from Roman settlements to nineteenth-century Paris to post-war North American suburbs to newer master-planned communities in Brazil and Singapore) makes engaging, informative reading for the generalist or readers new to the topic."
Maia Joseph in Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticsm and Review.

The Walkable City Gets Praise from Urbanist Christopher Leinberger

"Mary Soderstrom's The Walkable City addresses one of the most important environmental, economic, social, public health and foreign policy issues of our day that is also the most unexpected and simplest; building walkable urban places. Using an approach I personally enjoy, taking a long historical perspective from pre-history through the various ages of city building, Ms. Soderstrom demonstrates that we as a civilization know how to build walkable cities. We just have to speed up our efforts."
Christopher Leinberger, The Brookings Institution

More about The Violets of Usambara

Kim Barry Brunhuber seems to like The Violets of Usambara a lot: his review "These diamonds are a girl's worst enemy" appeared in The Globe and Mail Saturday, June 14, 2008. He says "the novel is a wonderfully matter-of-fact portrayal of two pragmatic characters struggling to find themselves and reconnect with each other." Check it out.

The book is available at independent bookstores and Chapters/Indigo stores throughout Canada and online through Amazon.ca, which will ship to the US.

Click here for more about the story behind The Violets of Usambara