Sunday, March 14, 2010

Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places by Leeana Tankersley


Memoirs these days had better be something or someone special.  Otherwise, they risk being chucked into the pile of "seen that, done that" books.


  Leeana Tankersley has entered the world of memoirs with her book Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places. Yet she brings something special to the table. Whisked off to Bahrain in the Middle East with her new husband, a Navy SEAL, Tankersley explores a new world with fresh eyes.

 
She wraps the story of early marriage around observations. She and her husband meet a Yousef, a rug salesman, who brings out his most prized rugs, "Introducing them as if they were friends and telling us their stories." He's only one of many people who brush against them in Bahrain.

 
In examining the colors and smells and sounds of Bahrain, Tankersley discovers beauty. Beauty is not a luxury in life, she learns, but a necessity.


  And so her book goes, weaving stories with discoveries. She bring humor but mostly reflection to her recollections. Transparent emotion and wry examination are interlaced through the chapters.


  It's a thoughtful book, one that digs below the surface and finds treasures of beauty and wisdom.


  Tankersley took a risk in writing a memoir but hers is special, one of found art and hidden beauty. Check it out.

 
Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places can be found at Amazon here.


  Tankersley's website can be found here.




A list of others blogging about this book can be found here.

  Note: the publisher provided me with a free copy of this book for review.

1 comment:

leeana said...

Thank you so much for your thoughtful review, Kathy. I so appreciate your participation in the blog tour. Yes, the memoir genre is tricky . . . especially when, say, yours comes out at the same time as Sarah Palin's. :) Thanks for giving it an honest read and for taking the journey with me!