Raw. Honest. Painful to read. Psychologically intense yet informative. How Eleanor Vincent relived her story to share it with others is an amazing feat. Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story is Eleanor Vincent‘s recounting of the tragic death of her daughter, Maya.
From Vincent’s vivid descriptions of Maya, the reader meets a beautiful young woman with her future waiting to be fulfilled. On the brink of entering UCLA on a full scholarship to the Theater Arts Program. Her dream come true. Home from community college on spring break, Maya plans a day with friends at a local park. Innocently, she and another young woman chance to ride a horse bareback, the ride ending in a tragic accident and sending Maya to a local emergency room.
Vincent has relived every memory of that day in Swimming with Maya and many beyond to bring this story to book form. At times, it is almost too painful to read and yet her fluid writing style coupled with the joined hope between writer and reader that Maya will survive this accident pulls the reader on through each page and chapter.
Coupled with the telling of Maya’s story and her own is Vincent’s treatment of the organ donor program. This coupling strengthens her explicit detailing of her personal story of love and loss. Each vignette and scene allows the reader to become a witness to the agony of losing one’s child. At the same time, Vincent shows us how she managed to eventually heal from this unbelievable tragedy.
Eleanor Vincent is masterful in her writing and story telling. And she has shown that she was masterful in sustaining Maya’s life through miraculous gifts to others. Life becomes the winner in the end, showing death it cannot take away everything.
* * *
Eleanor Vincent is an award-winning writer. Her memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story, was nominated for the Independent Publisher Book Award and has been reissued by Dream of Things press. She writes about love, loss, and grief recovery with a special focus on the challenges and joys of raising children at any age. Read more . . .
Sherrey, This is an excellent review of Eleanor’s heart-wrenching and brave story. I agree, Eleanor invites us into her world and under her skin as we experience a mother’s worst nightmare. But she also brings us to a place of hope and healing. A truly beautifully-crafted and courageous memoir.
Kathy, thanks, as always for your support and commentary on Swimming with Maya.
My pleasure, Eleanor. I was mesmerized by your courageous and heartfelt story.
Kathy, thank you for your generous affirmation of my review. I agree that this is a truly beautifully-crafted and courageous memoir. As I sat writing my review, I asked myself could I be so courageous and giving of such a painful story. I’m not sure — my story is painful but not like this.
I agree Sherrey, Eleanor’s courage in the face of such a deep loss is truly inspirational.
[…] Read more here . . . […]
Sherrey, this review is just perfect. I am also in awe of Eleanor as a writer and a survivor.
Madeline, I appreciate your lovely comments. Eleanor is an amazing woman, writer and survivor. Someone we could all take notes from, I believe.
Sounds like a very interesting book about a gut wrenching life situation. I’ll look for this book.
Grace, Eleanor has truly given us a memoir that changes you before you’ve gotten halfway through it. And her writing style is an excellent one to learn from as we — I mean I continue working on my wip memoir.
Beautiful review Sherry. See now I just keep stealing books after you have already reviewed it and then it saves me from having to think lol.
Ionia, you make me laugh!
Sherrey, sorry my autocorrect hates your name!
And before autocorrect my teachers hated my name!
I like your name! Everyone usually leaves out my second I lol
Hi Sherrey,
I was very touched by your review- such a heart wrenching read. My heart bleds for the mother who loses her child.
Clara
Clara, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments.
[…] Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story by Eleanor Vincent (A Review) […]
0 Pingbacks
Comments are closed.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Looking for Something?
Top Posts & Pages
Posts from the Past
What I Write About
Licensing with Creative Commons
Life in the Slow Lane by Sherrey Meyer is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0


Be the First to Read a Post
Tags
Let’s Connect!
Published Works
Resources
Site Policies