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Tiny Altars: A Midlife Revival
In childhood, Amy Hallberg receives a dollhouse that-while given with love-carries steep expectations. Forty years later, Amy walks away from her teaching career to forge a new life as a writer. The dollhouse reemerges as a mirror on Minnesota Nice, that familiar culture Amy's been afraid to examine too closely. She's equally terrified of repeating her ancestors' stories instead of writing her own. When real-world historic events draw her in, then Amy's true education begins. This leads her to question everything she thought she believed in, and to ultimately build new foundations.
The book ends where it begins, in Minneapolis and its Twin Cities suburbs, but with the dollhouse now gone and Minnesota Nice in the world's spotlight, along with the unresolved questions of legacy and inheritance. What do we keep, what do we let go of, and what do we choose to repurpose?
The book ends where it begins, in Minneapolis and its Twin Cities suburbs, but with the dollhouse now gone and Minnesota Nice in the world's spotlight, along with the unresolved questions of legacy and inheritance. What do we keep, what do we let go of, and what do we choose to repurpose?
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 6, 2023
4 stars: I really liked it. It’s always hard to rate memoirs given the investment it takes authors to put themselves out there - I respect readers who don't rate them on principle.
I enjoyed how Hallberg brought her grandmother and Aunt Vivian to life showcasing how culture and ways of thinking for both inspiration and prejudice get passed down. Weaving her personal stories amid the backdrop of events and history as a GenX Minnesotan white woman, the author shows a compelling and courageous mix of self-awareness, self-criticism and self-compassion.
These reviews also resonated with me:
* “...masterful at blending life’s simplicities with thought-provoking questions on race and individual truths.”
* “...some moments a love letter to tender memories and lost relatives, other times defying and rebelling against them, but always with a steady reckoning of fuller context…. Reckoning of her family stories parallels confronting the selective history popularized in the United States.”
* “Dazzled by Amy’s vivid, heart-on-the-sleeve sharing while traversing midlife intersections of lineage, liberation, and leaving one’s own legacy.”
* “With a willingness to wade through the messy parts, she explores how from the ashes of one dream, another is born.”
I enjoyed how Hallberg brought her grandmother and Aunt Vivian to life showcasing how culture and ways of thinking for both inspiration and prejudice get passed down. Weaving her personal stories amid the backdrop of events and history as a GenX Minnesotan white woman, the author shows a compelling and courageous mix of self-awareness, self-criticism and self-compassion.
These reviews also resonated with me:
* “...masterful at blending life’s simplicities with thought-provoking questions on race and individual truths.”
* “...some moments a love letter to tender memories and lost relatives, other times defying and rebelling against them, but always with a steady reckoning of fuller context…. Reckoning of her family stories parallels confronting the selective history popularized in the United States.”
* “Dazzled by Amy’s vivid, heart-on-the-sleeve sharing while traversing midlife intersections of lineage, liberation, and leaving one’s own legacy.”
* “With a willingness to wade through the messy parts, she explores how from the ashes of one dream, another is born.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review