Leila, 2013-09-19 12:45

This is a wonderful book in so many different ways. It is a memoir of the love of two people who were made for each other, but it is also a story of the Australian film industry over several decades, beginning from the 1960s. It a a story of places, the relationship of the author, Margaret Rose Stringer, to the cities of Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. It is a wonderful travel documentary, with beautiful photographs, of the travels of Margaret and her husband Chic in Europe, cities like Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Paris, come alive in the narrative of Margaret Rose Stringer. It is the perfect love story, and more so for being true, of two people who find each other when they are at their lowest and who live for each other for three decades. For those who love cats, Margaret and Chic come across and the perfect cat owners in addition to their many other wonderful qualities. Most of all this is the story of a unique man who gave so much to Margaret Rose and to everyone around him. He was a man who had no ego but many creative talents not only as a stillsman in the film industry but also as a housebuilder and a gordon bleu cook. Most of all he comes across as a man who had compassion for all living beings, whose care of those around him and particularly his loving care of Margaret Rose exemplifies this unconditional love and compassion, reminiscent of the best of Buddhist teachings of the Dalai Lama. Chic was diagnosed and died of lung cancer in Sydney. Margaret Rose documents his deterioration and the care, or the lack of it that he and she as his carer received. As a narrative of an illness this should be compulsory reading to all health professionals and those who teach future doctors and nurses. Chic may have died but on the pages of this wonderful memoir he lives on as someone each one of us would love to have as a caring friend.

Screencomposer, 2013-09-17 11:15

A moving and poignant journey of a woman's life. From an awkward childhood to a grieving widow coming to terms with the loss of her soulmate. The reader has a "fly on the wall" look at another person's life, with its despair and loneliness, to the apex of happiness. Finding the perfect love and then dealing with life after that soulmate is taken away. Margaret Rose has written from her heart a truly inspirational look at how death steps in without caring about the consequences. She is frank and brutally honest about herself and her relationship with her beloved "Stringer". We get to know these two people as if we knew them personally.

TWD, 2013-08-31 03:45

Having now completed reading this most intriguing memoir I could feel the pain that the author went through. Chic throughout was a bastion of strength for his beloved even though he was the one failing. An extraordinary tale of intensities - love, passion, humour, anger, reaction, all mixed in with the normal daily duties and heightened by the enjoyment of travel. I am sure Chic would have enjoyed Tasmania had he gone there. Cheers TWD