From the far-flung reaches of South Africa to the sun-kissed shores of South Carolina, USA, author Muriel Gill takes us on a heart-warming journey of family dynamics, second chances and the power of redemption. Scared Courage begins with Neo, the black South African wife of a wealthy European businessman, discovering that her husband has amassed his wealth through illegal and criminal means.
This discovery so
disturbs Neo she divorces her husband and returns to live with her mother in the
poorer neighborhood in which she grew up. At first, she can only speak to her
children on the phone but later she has them on weekends.
Eventually, Neo plucks
up her courage and tells the police everything she knows about her husband’s
activities. Gregory, Neo’s husband, is not a man to be trifled with. He plots
to kill her, but his daughter is the one who meets with the accident he’d
arranged. Fortunately, the girl survives. With the help of the police, Neo and her
children flee South Africa and build a new life for themselves in the United
States.
The characters in Scared Courage are well developed, but
Neo is a shining example of what every single mother ought to be. Firm, but
loving, gentle and patient, she guides her children into making the transition
from a life of opulence to one of barely getting by.
Although the family faces some challenges adjusting to their new life, I sometimes felt that everything happened too easily for them. I think some descriptive passages, especially of places in Africa, would have made the story come alive to us. Also, the author’s overuse of repetitions tended to draw me out of the narrative at times. But overall, I enjoyed the story and was very touched by the ending.
It’s no secret that we spend more time with our devices than with
our loved ones. And although it provides a solution for family members looking
to reduce their screen time, at its heart The Well-Balanced Family is about
learning to take the newly-available time and channel it toward strengthening
family connections, spending more quality time together, and supporting each
other in developing healthy, productive, and enjoyable lifestyles.
The Well-Balanced Family focuses on four areas: Connectedness,
Open Communication, Fitness, and Organization. Using an evidence-based
approach, author Robert Myers, PhD teaches parents how to encourage
developmental play activities, develop avid readers, instill cooperation and
mutual respect, improve physical fitness, build self-esteem and character, and
reduce struggles over bedtime, chores, and homework. It also provides tips for
helping kids safely make the most of their screen time.
If your family is more interested in their phones and tablets than
in each other, The Well-Balanced Family will teach you everything you need to
reclaim that sense of familial connection and love.
This
is an easy to read book that has everyday situations described about life, sex,
and love. It is an accumulation of my blogs where thousands of people have
avoided or improved their lives as a result of my over thirty years experience
as a licensed therapist and sex educator. It is meant to be shared and enjoyed
while learning.
Other Books in the Woozie Wisdom Series
Woozie Wisdom Publisher:
iUniverse
This
is a lively, fun, down to earth book with helpful ways to look at life, sex,
and love. It offers practical applications to make life fulfilled and joyful.
While there is no all-knowing guru, my over forty years of experience as a
relationship counselor and sex educator provides some answers for problems as
well as how to avoid them.
Woozie
Wisdom won a national first runner up award from Eric Hoffer.
Praise
for Woozie Wisdom:
“Author
Lynn Hubschman has constructed a book that gives grandmotherly advice to those
that might have missed out on important life tips. In earlier chapters she
talks about common sense tips as they relate to living a happy healthy and
vibrant life.” —Pacific Book Review
“Read
this book and then empower yourself to make any necessary changes. Hubschman
advises but she says it more indirectly and comically when she says, ‘So listen
to what you say and how you say it. Listen to what the people around you talk
about. If you want to throw up…. move on.’ The breadth of the book’s content
is unparalleled.” —The US Review of Books
Lynn
Hubschman is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and also its’ School
of Social Work.She has been a marriage counselor and family therapist over
thirty years. Has been Director of Family Life Education for Jewish Family
Service and then Director of Social Work at America’s oldest hospital;
Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Has always had a private practice and
appeared on major TV talk shows. She has written three other books including
‘Transsexuals. Life From Both Sides.’
