Title: In Search of Puffins
Author: Marjorie Simmins
Publisher: Pottersfield Press
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir
Rating: 4/5
Review:

I didn’t really know what to expect with this book. I think part of me half expected short stories, but I was treated to the next best thing. Real life memories of a woman who had just lost her husband. Her journey through grief, how she navigated that, and her fondest memories of her life. Firstly, when it comes to any nonfiction story or autobiography or memoir, I’ve heard critics say that “not everything is worthy of being in a book”, and these little moments that the author writes about can be… well, normal everyday moments. The guiding theme of this book is a walkthrough between stories of loss, light and flight. So the author carefully arranges her experiences and thoughts into memories. It’s a really sad book, but it’s so interesting. As a younger reader who has not experienced any of the things she has, it’s really a new world to me. I love opening myself up to what people older than me are saying. There are so many life lessons to be learned from those older than you. I find that in this book. Really, I find that it’s a wonderfully compiled recount of experiences, and how you can be broken into what feels like a million different pieces and still come out okay.

I think there are many different people that can relate to this book, find comfort in it, and really enjoy it. The writing is good, it’s interesting, every time I was reading this book I found myself reading multiple chapters at a time. I think this book is really interesting and meaningful for what it is. Not everyone can put out a story of their life and be brave enough to have people read it. This truly feels like a diary entry, where you are walked through her thoughts through every stage of life. It’s very interesting!

I would recommend this book to anyone who is going through a similar experience of losing a loved one, or anyone that likes to read memoirs and be opened up to the stories of other people.

That’s all for this book review! I will see you in the next post :]

here is official synopsis from Pottersfield Press:

In Search of Puffins is the third book in a series of memoirs, beginning with Coastal Lives and Year of the Horse. Journalist and author Marjorie Simmins completed this third memoir four years after the death of her husband, writer Silver Donald Cameron, a charismatic public figure much loved across Canada, and with an international reputation as an environmentalist and a filmmaker. In Search of Puffins is a story of love and loss, reinvention and humour.