Title: Purple Leaves, Red Cherries
Authors: Tania Elfersy & Andrea Katzman
Publisher: Flower Cap Press
About two months ago, I did a giveaway and featured post on Purple Leaves, Red Cherries. I received the book shortly after that, but just realized that I never did my own personal review. The book is so beautiful, it really does deserve a little more attention, so better late than never I hope! My apologies to the amazing authors for the delay.
This gorgeous book is divided into two distinct sections: the stories and the journal/toolkit. The stories section is further broken down into categories that follow the path of motherhood, from those very first moments with your newborn to the time you’re looking back on the years that passed by in what seems like a nano-second. There are about 48 in all, not including the introduction.
All of the stories in the book are very short and take up a single page, but the women who wrote them convey strong emotion in those words. My personal favorite is “Shift,” in which a mom talks about how she’s basically just tired of herself and her son at that moment, and how she feels like she lost her creativity because she doesn’t have time or energy for it anymore. I can relate. I love my son more than life itself, but there are times when I think I’ve lost everything that once made me, well, me over the last six years. Now that he’s getting older, I’m starting to find (or make) more time to get back to my creative side, but it’s hard when you’re a single mom and every moment of your life has to revolve around someone who needs you a lot more than you need to write a novel.
Of course, the stressed out or sad stories only make up a small portion of the book, but I think it’s important that they were included. Sometimes I feel like I’m a bad mom because I don’t love the “job” every single moment of the day. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who feels that way. Other stories share small moments that often mean so much more than the big ones, like getting down on the floor to play with your child even though your bones are aching.
After each section, there are a few blank pages to write your own thoughts on the subject. The second half of the book is made up of the journal, with suggested topics, and the toolkit, which features little activities you can do to inspire yourself in just five minutes.
I highly recommend this book for all moms. It would especially make an awesome shower present for a mom-to-be.
