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Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One Family
After more than twenty years living internationally―sixteen addresses, eight countries, and five different languages―writer Melissa Bradford shares a fantastic journey of motherhood that will inspire any family.
Follow this family of six on their passage―extraordinary, hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant―from Bright Lights (of New York City) to the Northern Lights (of Norway) to the City of Light (Paris) to the speed-of-light of the Autobahn (in Munich). Continue deep into the tropics of Southeast Asia (Singapore) and end your voyage in the heights of the Swiss Alps (Geneva).
As varied as the topography―the craggy fjords, the meandering Seine, the black forests, the muggy tropics, the soaring Alps―this multicultural tale traverses everything from giving birth in a château in Versailles to living on an island in a fjord. From singing jazz on national Norwegian T.V. to judging an Indonesian beauty contest. From navigating the labyrinth of French bureaucracy and the traffic patterns of Singapore to sitting around a big pine table where the whole family learns languages, cultures, cuisines―where they, in short, learn to love this complex and diverse world and, most importantly, each other.
Follow this family of six on their passage―extraordinary, hilarious and heartbreakingly poignant―from Bright Lights (of New York City) to the Northern Lights (of Norway) to the City of Light (Paris) to the speed-of-light of the Autobahn (in Munich). Continue deep into the tropics of Southeast Asia (Singapore) and end your voyage in the heights of the Swiss Alps (Geneva).
As varied as the topography―the craggy fjords, the meandering Seine, the black forests, the muggy tropics, the soaring Alps―this multicultural tale traverses everything from giving birth in a château in Versailles to living on an island in a fjord. From singing jazz on national Norwegian T.V. to judging an Indonesian beauty contest. From navigating the labyrinth of French bureaucracy and the traffic patterns of Singapore to sitting around a big pine table where the whole family learns languages, cultures, cuisines―where they, in short, learn to love this complex and diverse world and, most importantly, each other.
322 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
December 28, 2013
I wasn't expecting to like her.
I expected the story of an upper-class couple, with an ambitious husband and a can-do wife who, because of these benefits gets to, not only travel the world but, truly experience the cultures and lifestyles of the countries in which she lives all the time gathering up a unique group of dearest friends, giving her children cultural advantages, and stock-piling linguistic skills to make an ambassador blush; and then she gets to modestly boast (oxymoron) about her experiences by writing a book.
Truly, it's enough to make a foreign language-loving, wanderlusting, jealous heart ache.
But I loved her. I loved her candor and wit. I loved her ability to share so clearly and with such charm that I felt like I was getting to experience it with her. She wasn't bragging. She was sharing.
I was jealous, even of some of her difficult days (though not her most difficult day). But I could see that she truly earned every experience and handled her trials with grace. I haven't lost a son, but I have known deep pain and loss. She candidly and with great vulnerability invites and shares these moments. And so I allowed for my jealousy to abate and just to be grateful that in some small way she had invited me to sit down at her langbord to hear the travelogue of her life.
...
A favorite to which I could relate:
"'But this is easy,' Mr. Psy said, removing his glasses and folding his manicured hands while leaning forward on his frosted glass desk top. 'You're an artiste. You have the tempérament d'une artiste. You feel things profondément. This is a qualité. This tristresse is simply the price you pay pour l'art' (p. 167)."
Other moments I loved:
* The Høytidelig procession (p. 43)
* Hydrofoil ride hilarity (pp. 80-81)
* Her attitude toward childbirth
I expected the story of an upper-class couple, with an ambitious husband and a can-do wife who, because of these benefits gets to, not only travel the world but, truly experience the cultures and lifestyles of the countries in which she lives all the time gathering up a unique group of dearest friends, giving her children cultural advantages, and stock-piling linguistic skills to make an ambassador blush; and then she gets to modestly boast (oxymoron) about her experiences by writing a book.
"I could see from her clothing and gait that she was probably from mainland China, a place where getting stopped by uniformed officials wielding government papers could mean going to high court. Or prison. 'Ni Hao,' I stepped over, saying hello. Her face brightened and she wiped her eyes. We began speaking in Mandarin.
The next half hour was spent switching from Mandarin (with this frightened, transiting tourist from Beijing), to French (with the stiff, Swiss customs authorities, who had intimidated her on the train), to English (with Lauren, who was gracious enough to give me moral backup), and to German (by cell phone with the tourist's friend awaiting her in Zurich at the end of the final leg of her European train trip). Everything was clarified, this poor but greatly relieved Beijing woman and I hugged, and she went safely on her way, dragging her suitcase and calling out, 'Xie xie, xie xie, thank you, xie xie!'(p. 279)"
Truly, it's enough to make a foreign language-loving, wanderlusting, jealous heart ache.
But I loved her. I loved her candor and wit. I loved her ability to share so clearly and with such charm that I felt like I was getting to experience it with her. She wasn't bragging. She was sharing.
"What telling history means, I now understand, is not just talking for talking's sake, 'patching grief with proverbs,' as Shakespeare knows one should not because it kills community. Nor is it charting methodically through some timeline in order to make a graph so as to pinpoint key events or scientific equations behind tragedy. Grief is not time for sterile intellectuality because, when things are raw, it is the heart, not the brain, that says, 'Come be one'(p. 269)."
I was jealous, even of some of her difficult days (though not her most difficult day). But I could see that she truly earned every experience and handled her trials with grace. I haven't lost a son, but I have known deep pain and loss. She candidly and with great vulnerability invites and shares these moments. And so I allowed for my jealousy to abate and just to be grateful that in some small way she had invited me to sit down at her langbord to hear the travelogue of her life.
...
A favorite to which I could relate:
"'But this is easy,' Mr. Psy said, removing his glasses and folding his manicured hands while leaning forward on his frosted glass desk top. 'You're an artiste. You have the tempérament d'une artiste. You feel things profondément. This is a qualité. This tristresse is simply the price you pay pour l'art' (p. 167)."
Other moments I loved:
* The Høytidelig procession (p. 43)
* Hydrofoil ride hilarity (pp. 80-81)
* Her attitude toward childbirth
September 30, 2013
I'm hesitant to write a review for this book, because I don't think my words will be adequate to the experience of reading the book. I've meet Melissa a few times in real life, and while I was struck by her intelligence and poise, I had no idea that so much was simmering in that brain of hers.
Global Mom tells the extraordinary story of their family, as they adapt to living in first Norway, then Versailles, stateside, then back in France, in Paris. To this point, it's really Melissa's extraordinary voice and observations that make the story: seeing her persepectives on the cultural differences (and the challenges of raising young children in each culture) was fascinating.
Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One FamilyAnd then tragedy strikes. (Note: this isn't a spoiler--it's a central part of the story). That I knew the tragedy was coming because I've read some of Melissa's writings on the topic in no way made the event less poignant. Melissa's oldest son, Parker, dies in a tragic accident at age 18. And from that point on, the story is shot through with grief, and the struggle to make sense of such an earth-shattering event. No matter where her family lives after that (Munich, Hong Kong, Geneva), what they experience is not just a new location, but an extension of the landscape of grief.
More than anything, this book has me thinking about place: about how place is made up of landscape (built and natural), but also history and culture and most of all people, and the relationships among people.
And of course, I'm still thinking about some of the gorgeous prose passages. Melissa's voice is really quite astounding at times: she comes across as warm, gracious, intelligent, thoughtful, generous and deeply philosophical. Here are two of my favorite passages (if among some of the most devastating):
And as his head tipped gracefully to one side, the earth fell off its axis and began spinning strangely, drunkenly, into unchartable and inaccessible regions out of which only a God can escape, or from which only a God can rescue.
This land of major loss was uncharted terrain, a land with its own language of silence. It was something more than a country, it was its own planet with its own air pressure and gravitational pull.
Other readers have parted out that there are two different parts of the story: before and after Parker's death. While this is true, the experience before his death is intimately tied up with its aftermath. Their rich family life underscores the depth of the tragedy.
After reading this book, there's a significant part of me that wishes I could provide this kind of rich international experience for my children, but honesty compels me to admit that I wouldn't reap nearly the harvest from it that Melissa has (nor would I willingly pay the price she has).
This was the best kind of book: it made me think, it made me weep, but it also made me hopeful.
Global Mom tells the extraordinary story of their family, as they adapt to living in first Norway, then Versailles, stateside, then back in France, in Paris. To this point, it's really Melissa's extraordinary voice and observations that make the story: seeing her persepectives on the cultural differences (and the challenges of raising young children in each culture) was fascinating.
Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, Five Languages, One FamilyAnd then tragedy strikes. (Note: this isn't a spoiler--it's a central part of the story). That I knew the tragedy was coming because I've read some of Melissa's writings on the topic in no way made the event less poignant. Melissa's oldest son, Parker, dies in a tragic accident at age 18. And from that point on, the story is shot through with grief, and the struggle to make sense of such an earth-shattering event. No matter where her family lives after that (Munich, Hong Kong, Geneva), what they experience is not just a new location, but an extension of the landscape of grief.
More than anything, this book has me thinking about place: about how place is made up of landscape (built and natural), but also history and culture and most of all people, and the relationships among people.
And of course, I'm still thinking about some of the gorgeous prose passages. Melissa's voice is really quite astounding at times: she comes across as warm, gracious, intelligent, thoughtful, generous and deeply philosophical. Here are two of my favorite passages (if among some of the most devastating):
And as his head tipped gracefully to one side, the earth fell off its axis and began spinning strangely, drunkenly, into unchartable and inaccessible regions out of which only a God can escape, or from which only a God can rescue.
This land of major loss was uncharted terrain, a land with its own language of silence. It was something more than a country, it was its own planet with its own air pressure and gravitational pull.
Other readers have parted out that there are two different parts of the story: before and after Parker's death. While this is true, the experience before his death is intimately tied up with its aftermath. Their rich family life underscores the depth of the tragedy.
After reading this book, there's a significant part of me that wishes I could provide this kind of rich international experience for my children, but honesty compels me to admit that I wouldn't reap nearly the harvest from it that Melissa has (nor would I willingly pay the price she has).
This was the best kind of book: it made me think, it made me weep, but it also made me hopeful.
February 18, 2014
I'm torn on this book, but decided to go with a higher rating because ultimately it's one that I would recommend to others.
I was amused (at first) with her over-use of the English language (thesaurus much)? And the audiobook concertos that were inserted. And the "look at me and how silly we are with our living abroad adventure" type stories. And then, instead of amused, I was just down-right irritated.
But I plowed on, and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure it was intentional, but perhaps the first part of the book was used to juxtapose the second half - to show how far they'd come - from being silly new ex-pats who are just trying to keep up with their French neighbors, to people who have undergone a fundamental (and devastating) life-altering change. And to come to the realization of what family really means - in between all the moves, the day-to-day frustrations and tedium.
This is where I really started liking Bradford. I loved her descriptions of what it meant to lower the bar for herself, and what it means to have a resounding silence in the aftermath of grief. I really enjoyed her descriptions of home, and how her table came full circle in her story.
As I told a friend, this is a book that can practically lead itself in a book club discussion, as there is so much to talk about - world travel, putting your own dreams on hold for that of your partner's work, uprooting children (or is it having your children experience the world?), the stress (and excitement) of living in a new culture, losing a child, gaining perspective, what and where is home.
Beautiful, universal themes told in an interesting story. Recommended.
I was amused (at first) with her over-use of the English language (thesaurus much)? And the audiobook concertos that were inserted. And the "look at me and how silly we are with our living abroad adventure" type stories. And then, instead of amused, I was just down-right irritated.
But I plowed on, and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure it was intentional, but perhaps the first part of the book was used to juxtapose the second half - to show how far they'd come - from being silly new ex-pats who are just trying to keep up with their French neighbors, to people who have undergone a fundamental (and devastating) life-altering change. And to come to the realization of what family really means - in between all the moves, the day-to-day frustrations and tedium.
This is where I really started liking Bradford. I loved her descriptions of what it meant to lower the bar for herself, and what it means to have a resounding silence in the aftermath of grief. I really enjoyed her descriptions of home, and how her table came full circle in her story.
As I told a friend, this is a book that can practically lead itself in a book club discussion, as there is so much to talk about - world travel, putting your own dreams on hold for that of your partner's work, uprooting children (or is it having your children experience the world?), the stress (and excitement) of living in a new culture, losing a child, gaining perspective, what and where is home.
Beautiful, universal themes told in an interesting story. Recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2015
I actually met Melissa (though I'm sure she doesn't remember) when I was on a study abroad in Paris. A group of us met her at church in Versailles and she kindly invited us to her home. She had us all gathered around her in her beautiful home listening to her amazing stories - green with envy. Her children gabbing in Norwegian. This is what we wanted. This life of amazingness. That was 2000. As a missionary in Philadelphia a couple years later, I went to a conference and she was on the program to sing. Crazy that this person would turn up so randomly twice in my life. Then, the other day I was handed this book as our book club read and was floored at the cover. How many times in my life have I wondered about that amazing woman?
Fast forward 13 years and I am not exactly the world wanderer I knew I would be. No regrets, though - I am thoroughly content with this life I have chosen. But part of me day dreams about what it would be like to live in that beautiful place - and experience those amazing things.
Her writing was much like her storytelling - she obviously lives in a different sphere than I (economic as well as talent) yet she has a way of making you feel a complete equal.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to live abroad.
Fast forward 13 years and I am not exactly the world wanderer I knew I would be. No regrets, though - I am thoroughly content with this life I have chosen. But part of me day dreams about what it would be like to live in that beautiful place - and experience those amazing things.
Her writing was much like her storytelling - she obviously lives in a different sphere than I (economic as well as talent) yet she has a way of making you feel a complete equal.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to live abroad.
February 18, 2014
This is a tough review to write. I was about 2/3 of the way through the book and was ready to throw in the towel. I absolutely loved learning about the different cultural norms of raising children in Norway and France. I absolutely detested the fact that it felt like she was trying too hard to be a writer she is not. Flowery phrases, similes, and metaphors abound throughout the book. And I just felt it wasn't needed. The story would have been good without it.
And then came Munich.
This is where the author finally become real to me- accessible- someone other than Super Mom. Having experienced a recent loss myself, this part of the book, her real, raw emotions, alternately spoke to me and made me cry. Her lessons learned in Singapore about the girl and the silver bowl were beautiful and ones I will continue to muse for a long time to come.
Overall I'd go with a 4.5 because I learned new things and she provided a slight balm for my battered heart.
And then came Munich.
This is where the author finally become real to me- accessible- someone other than Super Mom. Having experienced a recent loss myself, this part of the book, her real, raw emotions, alternately spoke to me and made me cry. Her lessons learned in Singapore about the girl and the silver bowl were beautiful and ones I will continue to muse for a long time to come.
Overall I'd go with a 4.5 because I learned new things and she provided a slight balm for my battered heart.
November 18, 2017
I first want to put a plug in for the audio version of this book. It is read by the author and she sings, speaks multiple languages and I feel like her personality came through as she spoke. Loved it!
I hope, if ever given the opportunity to live outside of the country, that I would embrace each country as the author did. I love how she learned the language and customs in each location and really let them into her life. I learned to love each country where she lived (well maybe not the people in Versailles as much as the people in Paris), as she told about her experiences. I love how much detail she gave and her willingness to show her weaknesses as she learned to navigate each new place.
I chuckled at how difficult the transition was for her children when they returned to live in the states for a short time. The story I most often share about the book, with those who haven't read it, was when her son Parker had to write an essay about a first lady he admired and he wrote it on Eve. I'm guessing he'd never heard the term "first lady" given to a US President's wife and so wrote on Eve, who was the first lady. LOL
Reading the book made me slightly jealous of her life. It is obvious that it was challenging and hard to leave people you'd come to love but it seems so rich. You can tell how much she loves her friends and that they were still her friends, even after she moved to a new place. Being a people person myself, I believe it would be a bonus to make so many life long friends from so many places!
The later half of the book has a different flavor from the first part but it is also open and honest.
I enjoyed discussing this book at book club. I also loved all of the different foods we had from multiple countries, even if all we could purchase from Norway, in our neck of the woods, was a bottle of water. ;)
4 1/2 stars
Popsugar Challenge # 14 A book involving travel
I hope, if ever given the opportunity to live outside of the country, that I would embrace each country as the author did. I love how she learned the language and customs in each location and really let them into her life. I learned to love each country where she lived (well maybe not the people in Versailles as much as the people in Paris), as she told about her experiences. I love how much detail she gave and her willingness to show her weaknesses as she learned to navigate each new place.
I chuckled at how difficult the transition was for her children when they returned to live in the states for a short time. The story I most often share about the book, with those who haven't read it, was when her son Parker had to write an essay about a first lady he admired and he wrote it on Eve. I'm guessing he'd never heard the term "first lady" given to a US President's wife and so wrote on Eve, who was the first lady. LOL
Reading the book made me slightly jealous of her life. It is obvious that it was challenging and hard to leave people you'd come to love but it seems so rich. You can tell how much she loves her friends and that they were still her friends, even after she moved to a new place. Being a people person myself, I believe it would be a bonus to make so many life long friends from so many places!
The later half of the book has a different flavor from the first part but it is also open and honest.
I enjoyed discussing this book at book club. I also loved all of the different foods we had from multiple countries, even if all we could purchase from Norway, in our neck of the woods, was a bottle of water. ;)
4 1/2 stars
Popsugar Challenge # 14 A book involving travel
February 19, 2014
I find it difficult to review a memoir. Someone's personal and intimate life perspectives and details. And, Wow, what a life explored to its fullest.
I liked this book- but didn't Love it.
This book seemed to be several books in one- as opposed to several Stories in one. It wasn't that it was disjointed/hard to read- the chronology of things was obvious. But the emotional piece of it was hard to follow; at times raw and riveting and at times tedious as a reader. There were some beautiful pieces. I loved the attitude of assimilation and life-long learning and the perspectives that both travel/moving/cultures and loss provided Melissa with.
It was almost as if she sat down to write a certain kind of book, but in the writing process the therapeutic sharing of "writing" took the book in a different direction. Maybe she just needed a good Editor? I don't know. The title of Global Mom speaks toward the umbrella of the story, but the STORY was in the storm....
Cool vignettes. Neat experiences and reflections. Tremendous and brave sharing on the grief process. I am an emotional reader- so tears flowed, but not really a read I would highly recommend.
The subtle end note of 2 Cor3:2-3 made the most sense to me as to why she felt this story needed to be told. "You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." Her life is a beautiful inspiration of faith.
But that being said- I really had to WORK as a reader for inspiration to get into the book until over half-way through. Which made it more of an "okay" than Amazing book for me.
I liked this book- but didn't Love it.
This book seemed to be several books in one- as opposed to several Stories in one. It wasn't that it was disjointed/hard to read- the chronology of things was obvious. But the emotional piece of it was hard to follow; at times raw and riveting and at times tedious as a reader. There were some beautiful pieces. I loved the attitude of assimilation and life-long learning and the perspectives that both travel/moving/cultures and loss provided Melissa with.
It was almost as if she sat down to write a certain kind of book, but in the writing process the therapeutic sharing of "writing" took the book in a different direction. Maybe she just needed a good Editor? I don't know. The title of Global Mom speaks toward the umbrella of the story, but the STORY was in the storm....
Cool vignettes. Neat experiences and reflections. Tremendous and brave sharing on the grief process. I am an emotional reader- so tears flowed, but not really a read I would highly recommend.
The subtle end note of 2 Cor3:2-3 made the most sense to me as to why she felt this story needed to be told. "You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." Her life is a beautiful inspiration of faith.
But that being said- I really had to WORK as a reader for inspiration to get into the book until over half-way through. Which made it more of an "okay" than Amazing book for me.
September 2, 2013
The writing in this book was a bit...extravagant...for me. A little too precious, at least at the beginning. But as I continued to read, the writing settled down a little and I began to really enjoy hearing about the author's experiences. Midway into the book, tragedy strikes. For me, the title is misleading, because the book is really about the tragedy. The impact is in the tragedy. It's almost as if there are two stories here, and because they are fairly equally balanced, it felt a little off. It wasn't plot and subplot, but more like there are two competing purposes for her writing, and to me it felt like the real purpose was NOT about being a global mom. That said, the author writes bravely of her experience and helped me understand a tragedy in my own family better. I felt her experience deeply.
June 29, 2019
Apart from the title, “Global Mom” is mostly not a self-aggrandizing book. There is a character arch here somewhere: the woman we get to know at the beginning isn’t quite the same we get to experience at the end. From ethnocentric but open to muted.
Considering this was a memoir, I felt too much distance, protections and walls, and the woman at the center remained somewhat closed off to me despite the descriptions of some intimate experiences. A messy chronology and lack of purpose confused the sense of time, direction and authenticity (though not sincerity).
For some reason (her editor?) she keeps sticking to her narrative of the well-traveled, not-at-all-American American mother who unlike her compatriots learns other languages and studies European cultures as if she were a handler in a zoo. That narrative no longer makes sense once tragedy strikes, and there is some attempt to change it into one of grief and homelessness.
Unfortunately she never fully commits, instead preferring to tell anecdotes of French grocers and poor Asian women - entertaining, but keeping her story purposefully shiny just when there would have been the opportunity for real depth and self-reflection.
Considering this was a memoir, I felt too much distance, protections and walls, and the woman at the center remained somewhat closed off to me despite the descriptions of some intimate experiences. A messy chronology and lack of purpose confused the sense of time, direction and authenticity (though not sincerity).
For some reason (her editor?) she keeps sticking to her narrative of the well-traveled, not-at-all-American American mother who unlike her compatriots learns other languages and studies European cultures as if she were a handler in a zoo. That narrative no longer makes sense once tragedy strikes, and there is some attempt to change it into one of grief and homelessness.
Unfortunately she never fully commits, instead preferring to tell anecdotes of French grocers and poor Asian women - entertaining, but keeping her story purposefully shiny just when there would have been the opportunity for real depth and self-reflection.
August 28, 2013
I loved this book. Cliche? I'm okay with that because this book did for me what I want all books to do for me. I was intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually fed. I found myself living inside of the author's life, watching and feeling and experiencing all of the moments she described. I laughed, I sobbed, I smiled, I stopped and pondered... and then I jumped back in and devoured her words, although as slowly as I could so the words would seep into my skin and linger.
I am a traveler, but I have not lived beyond a very small geographic region. And I will be honest that part of the fascination of this book is seeing how the author and her family actually did it. They DID it. They lived in more than one country, learned more than one language, assimilated themselves into more than one culture, and they did it --not without fear, not without concern, not without doubt, but with more faith than fear, more courage than concern, and more determination than doubt.
The personal, unrelenting, and focused tragedy the family faces is absolutely heart-wrenching. And yet, the land of grief, the land the author speaks of --this country she has never lived in before --it has so much to teach. I was awed by the sheer amount of truth and experience that I read. I learned so much and I felt so much.
And so, I loved this book. I loved it dearly and I was sad when it was finished.
I am a traveler, but I have not lived beyond a very small geographic region. And I will be honest that part of the fascination of this book is seeing how the author and her family actually did it. They DID it. They lived in more than one country, learned more than one language, assimilated themselves into more than one culture, and they did it --not without fear, not without concern, not without doubt, but with more faith than fear, more courage than concern, and more determination than doubt.
The personal, unrelenting, and focused tragedy the family faces is absolutely heart-wrenching. And yet, the land of grief, the land the author speaks of --this country she has never lived in before --it has so much to teach. I was awed by the sheer amount of truth and experience that I read. I learned so much and I felt so much.
And so, I loved this book. I loved it dearly and I was sad when it was finished.
July 13, 2013
I remember hearing about the tragic death of this family's teenager a few years ago, and so was intrigued to read this book. This is far more than a travelogue, as Bradford delves into the essence of parenting, global communities, and the transformative nature of grief. With poetic language and a richly detailed tapestry of experiences brought together into coherent chapter arcs, all colored by her faith and family, the reader joins their adventures and by the end feels like a personal friend, weeping and smiling together as part of this unfinished epic journey of life. Similar to my naive childhood wish to have twins before I understood what parenting a newborn entailed, I began reading this book with a bit of envy that this LDS mom of four, with a not-dissimilar background to my own (and a number of mutual Facebook friends), got to live this international, exotic story. By the end I was both awed at her stamina and content with my more settled, stable existence and predictable path, yet very grateful that she shared her story in its raw, authentic emotion, perplexity, and glory.
September 3, 2017
This book was such a relief. I got to step out of the day-to-day stress of recent life and travel the world with Melissa and her family. Norway made me laugh out loud. France made me crave Jaques Genin. Munich made me feel (I will forever love Lars-the hairdresser). Singapore made me reassess. And Switzerland made me see home in faces rather than places. In fact, I had just finished when we received the news that a dear friend of ours passed away. As I walked into his funeral, met by so many beloved faces from our small downtown Mormon congregation, this reality split me wide open. I was a weepy mess of gratitude for all those people and our time there. It was such a blessing to be with them to mourn Jim's passing and celebrate his life together. In addition, to being funny and thought provoking, this book is also a poignant and insightful meditation on loss that helped me draw some other unexpected and helpful connections in my own life. And people are good, EVERYWHERE. Sometimes it's easy to forget that. This story is a welcome reminder of goodness. Well worth my time, well worth anyone's time.
January 14, 2014
Written by a woman that I'm lucky enough to call a friend, Global Mom is an insightful, honest, beautifully written account of the Bradford family's "expat" life. But the memoir does more than detail Melissa's adventures with her husband and four children as they navigate the social, cultural, and educational systems of Norway, France, Singapore, and other places across the globe. It's also plumbs the depths of a family's (and especially a mother's) grief when Melissa's eldest son, Parker, dies after attempting to save a fellow student from drowning. This is a wise, compassionate, and compelling memoir.
November 22, 2016
It took me over two years to get through this book. I digested it slowly. The author does an excellent job of painting a picture, her writing is wonderful that way. I found this book surprisingly easy to apply to myself as well. I was constantly comparing and contrasting my own life to hers, which was a very good exercise. I don't travel, our life is firmly rooted in Idaho. But yet I still related to her experiences with neighbors, her struggles with depression, family, and LIFE. It was well worth my time. I have been trying to figure out who to pass this on to, if you want to read it let me know and I'll mail it!
May 28, 2015
Wow! Liked this so much more than I was expecting to!
March 23, 2017
I loved this memoir. I loved her in depth (but sometimes a bit too flowery and wordy) description of her family's interesting adventures in moving to new locations around the world. She really painted a beautiful picture of their lives in each country..
.I was amazed at how much they had to relocate because of her husband's job! I kept thinking things like, "please stay in Versailles, please let your kids settle in and have a rooted life! Don't move again!", or, "how are you doing this? Are you superwoman?" Her descriptions of their surroundings put me right there with them, cheering them on, hoping those kids would adjust and somehow perfect another language. Boy. these kids were adaptable! I am thoroughly impressed by what they accomplished.
I was absolutely stunned at the point where the tragedy strikes their family. I cried and cried for them....it was at this point that I felt her writing became really authentic, her true self. I was amazed that they continued moving around and starting over, even while they grieved. I felt her loneliness, being in Germany, amongst strangers who didn't know their story or know their pain. I especially loved her introspection about how we are all one community, home is not a place, but all the people you bring into your life, and how we are all more alike than different, whether rich or poor. Compared to her grief and loss, she realized people had so much more loss and hardship than herself. She gave some very poignant and spiritual messages.
.I was amazed at how much they had to relocate because of her husband's job! I kept thinking things like, "please stay in Versailles, please let your kids settle in and have a rooted life! Don't move again!", or, "how are you doing this? Are you superwoman?" Her descriptions of their surroundings put me right there with them, cheering them on, hoping those kids would adjust and somehow perfect another language. Boy. these kids were adaptable! I am thoroughly impressed by what they accomplished.
I was absolutely stunned at the point where the tragedy strikes their family. I cried and cried for them....it was at this point that I felt her writing became really authentic, her true self. I was amazed that they continued moving around and starting over, even while they grieved. I felt her loneliness, being in Germany, amongst strangers who didn't know their story or know their pain. I especially loved her introspection about how we are all one community, home is not a place, but all the people you bring into your life, and how we are all more alike than different, whether rich or poor. Compared to her grief and loss, she realized people had so much more loss and hardship than herself. She gave some very poignant and spiritual messages.
August 5, 2017
I started this book expecting a fun, around-the-world read with a story that would allow me to live vicariously (as I always thought I would be raising my children somewhere internationally and perhaps missed my calling in that regard). This book was that, but so very much more. Melissa Dalton-Bradford is a beautifully articulate writer, a 'word artist,' whose skill I found myself envying. She is also a gifted linguist, and it was so fun to listen to her (it is her voice on the audio book, lucky for us) as she utilized the various languages with gorgeous accents she and her family not only learned but mastered throughout their journeys. As a bonus, she is also a former broadway singer and the few times she sings during the narrative are a real treat.
However, this is so much more than a fun travelogue. I didn't expect the depth and beauty that came from what she shared of the extreme loss the family experienced, and my heart was touched and changed by it. I found myself lingering in the car or walking an extra mile or two so that I could listen longer. I also found myself wishing that I knew the author personally. She is a delight. I'm sure I will listen to this book again sometime as it's a keeper.
However, this is so much more than a fun travelogue. I didn't expect the depth and beauty that came from what she shared of the extreme loss the family experienced, and my heart was touched and changed by it. I found myself lingering in the car or walking an extra mile or two so that I could listen longer. I also found myself wishing that I knew the author personally. She is a delight. I'm sure I will listen to this book again sometime as it's a keeper.
April 4, 2017
I felt like I was right there with Melissa and her family as they moved through the growing pains of cultural integration. It was a fascinating read and as a mom of young children, as she was when she began her journey, I could relate on many levels.
I agree with other reviewers that her word choice is often cumbersome, but not enough to stop you from reading on. I felt that this memoir was two books in some ways; the first part goes into great detail about relocating and integrating in new countries (fantastic!), the second part deals with a great loss the family experiences. It should be a compliment to the author that I felt invested enough in her family that the loss was so difficult for me to read (i.e. cried for days and lost sleep (I'm a wimp!)).
I think anyone who has traveled/moved with their family, or ever thought of doing so would really enjoy this book.
I agree with other reviewers that her word choice is often cumbersome, but not enough to stop you from reading on. I felt that this memoir was two books in some ways; the first part goes into great detail about relocating and integrating in new countries (fantastic!), the second part deals with a great loss the family experiences. It should be a compliment to the author that I felt invested enough in her family that the loss was so difficult for me to read (i.e. cried for days and lost sleep (I'm a wimp!)).
I think anyone who has traveled/moved with their family, or ever thought of doing so would really enjoy this book.
February 5, 2019
I read this for book club and was intrigued by her life through the first half of the book but wondered throughout what exactly her husband did that took them all over the world. The 2 Nd half I loved her writing , her life, her loss, and in the end the way it is so easy to look at what we like to see in people rather than truly investing In them. Investing enough to learn the losses we face and what it changes in us. She shared this beautifully leaving my heart aching and yet knowing life goes on. Loved this read!
September 18, 2022
The author's life is so different from mine, and it was fascinating to see what it's like moving from country to country while raising a family. I was impressed by her ability to embrace each new culture she was thrown into and, in her words, "to suck the marrow out of life" by living intentionally and getting the most out of each new experience. There were parts in the middle where I lost interest a bit, but I liked it overall. The ending was quite moving and tragic.
September 13, 2018
Melissa is such an amazing writer. Never wanting for a adjective. She and I shared the same ward in Germany and now the same loss of a 19 year old son. Keep writing Melissa.
November 16, 2013
I usually read at a very brisk pace. Bradford's memoir slowed me down for a number of reasons.
First, she writes image-rich prose, describing people, places and things that are beyond my experience. This requires me to slow down so that I can paint a picture as guided by her words. Second, her prose approximates poetry. By that, I mean her prose is often philosophical, non-linear, indirect, whimsical, full of symbols, word play and allusions. I might find this frustrating, but in every case, the destination is worth the journey. Third, she covers a lot of material in just under 300 pages. The type font is small, and she covers so much ground in her memoir. Not only does she literally cover various geographies as someone who has lived in eight countries (at sixteen addresses). She introduces us to a number of people, describes a lot of events, and adorns each scene with thick, rich description. She's very tactile.
In the pages of her memoir, we travel with her, her husband Randall, and her growing family as they move from New York to Norway to France to Germany to Singapore, to France again and to Switzerland. There are also a couple of side trips to the US. I enjoyed learning more about these countries, their cultures, their languages, their cities and some of their inhabitants--both natives and those foreign-born.
She also takes the reader on long and detailed tours of her inner landscape, which is rich because of her immersion in several cultures, languages, works of literature, musical pieces, architectural detail and visual arts. At times I was tempted to be intimidated by Dalton's sophistication. Nevertheless, the sophistication I thought I would find is downplayed because of her overwhelming warmth, compassion, and vulnerability. She's not showing off when she describes life in lands I've never traveled. She is just narrating the particulars of her life. And if she were downplay or to lie about her experience, the memoir would become dross.
She also writes with poingancy and tenderness about loss. I refrain from summarizing these passages because I would cheapen them by trying to represent her experience. I can tell you that I cried so hard that I couldn't read the words off the page. And I ached for her and her family. I also admire her act of composing her self in the wake of loss by literally writing herself into a livable space. But maybe that's not the best way to describe her loss and her response to it? Don't take my word for it. Read her memoir yourself without my filter distorting her story of love, loss, grief and love continuing despite grief.
Finally, this memoir took me longer to read because it was personally challenging. Bradford inspires me. Well, for the first third of the memoir, I had to wrestle with comparing myself to her and feeling inadequate. That was not anything she did in the telling of her story. That was me coveting her life. I had to put down the book a lot in the first few chapters and take some time to position my own story in relation to hers. Honestly, I don't imagine myself really ever moving from country to country. But it was glorious to live it vicariously for the two weeks it took me to read her memoir.
Once I grounded myself into accepting myself and my own particular life choices, I could then allow Bradford to inspire me to strive to be the best Karen I can be. To live fully each day, to live deliberately, to immerse myself in my current context, to choose to love in the moment, to have purpose so that I might some day write a memoir that has a similar tone--even if all the specifics of writing style and live events are radically different.
Through the pages of her novel, Dalton reveals her heart, and it is beautiful, elegant, tender and wise.
First, she writes image-rich prose, describing people, places and things that are beyond my experience. This requires me to slow down so that I can paint a picture as guided by her words. Second, her prose approximates poetry. By that, I mean her prose is often philosophical, non-linear, indirect, whimsical, full of symbols, word play and allusions. I might find this frustrating, but in every case, the destination is worth the journey. Third, she covers a lot of material in just under 300 pages. The type font is small, and she covers so much ground in her memoir. Not only does she literally cover various geographies as someone who has lived in eight countries (at sixteen addresses). She introduces us to a number of people, describes a lot of events, and adorns each scene with thick, rich description. She's very tactile.
In the pages of her memoir, we travel with her, her husband Randall, and her growing family as they move from New York to Norway to France to Germany to Singapore, to France again and to Switzerland. There are also a couple of side trips to the US. I enjoyed learning more about these countries, their cultures, their languages, their cities and some of their inhabitants--both natives and those foreign-born.
She also takes the reader on long and detailed tours of her inner landscape, which is rich because of her immersion in several cultures, languages, works of literature, musical pieces, architectural detail and visual arts. At times I was tempted to be intimidated by Dalton's sophistication. Nevertheless, the sophistication I thought I would find is downplayed because of her overwhelming warmth, compassion, and vulnerability. She's not showing off when she describes life in lands I've never traveled. She is just narrating the particulars of her life. And if she were downplay or to lie about her experience, the memoir would become dross.
She also writes with poingancy and tenderness about loss. I refrain from summarizing these passages because I would cheapen them by trying to represent her experience. I can tell you that I cried so hard that I couldn't read the words off the page. And I ached for her and her family. I also admire her act of composing her self in the wake of loss by literally writing herself into a livable space. But maybe that's not the best way to describe her loss and her response to it? Don't take my word for it. Read her memoir yourself without my filter distorting her story of love, loss, grief and love continuing despite grief.
Finally, this memoir took me longer to read because it was personally challenging. Bradford inspires me. Well, for the first third of the memoir, I had to wrestle with comparing myself to her and feeling inadequate. That was not anything she did in the telling of her story. That was me coveting her life. I had to put down the book a lot in the first few chapters and take some time to position my own story in relation to hers. Honestly, I don't imagine myself really ever moving from country to country. But it was glorious to live it vicariously for the two weeks it took me to read her memoir.
Once I grounded myself into accepting myself and my own particular life choices, I could then allow Bradford to inspire me to strive to be the best Karen I can be. To live fully each day, to live deliberately, to immerse myself in my current context, to choose to love in the moment, to have purpose so that I might some day write a memoir that has a similar tone--even if all the specifics of writing style and live events are radically different.
Through the pages of her novel, Dalton reveals her heart, and it is beautiful, elegant, tender and wise.
February 20, 2014
If my year of reading is to be foreshadowed by the first book of 2014, because of Melissa Dalton-Bradford’s “Global Mom” I am in for months of evocative, searing prose; considered, immense ponderings; tales of fragile wonder and luminous humanity; and a year of having my stunted wary heart not only become bigger than my head, but be stretched terribly, beautifully wide open.
“You have to read this!” so many friends urged me, and one day M-heart pushed a copy into my willing hands. I knew of Melissa by then – talented, gorgeous, a citizen of the world, vignette master, gracious… and with a heart cracked immensely wide open and generously shared following the awful accidental death of her eldest son.
From what I’d heard, seen and read, Melissa Dalton-Bradford royally intimidated me (even though we’d never met or spoken). Grace, style, charm, artistic ability in her bones and soul-fire, all refined and polished through the condensing tragedy of loss – how could my dusty speck of anxiety and oddity brace against that? Still determined to at least try to read it, I flew my lusted-after copy of “Global Mom” back across the Pacific wondering if I was brave enough to begin the journey into Melissa’s world. In the end, after four months of wanting and reluctance, I decided to start 2014 with “Global Mom”.
This book ripped my head clean off my shoulders, poured enthusiasm, satisfaction, Norway, breathtaking writing, tears, France, social anxiety, displacement, Singapore, laughter, anxiety and family down my throat in a rich, joy clotted stream of delicious prose and gorgeous imagery, and left me parched for more.
In addition to world traveller, citizen of the planet, singer, artist, mother, diplomat, friend and explorer, “wordsmith” obviously belongs on the well-endowed list of nouns and accolades for Dalton-Bradford. “Global Mom” is carefully crafted, each country and episode given loving and frank detail and consideration. Dalton-Bradford shares her struggles, victories, thoughts and everyday realities of life beautifully, crisply, so you are right there in that everyday reality, running through the Versailles gardens, or watching a girl paddle in the middle of a Cambodian river, making mac and cheese, or sitting in an ICU.
“But I’m telling you, after all that variety, all that walking around hunting for just the ambiance, all that comparison shopping for the perfect dish – after all that – like you, I’m completely worn out. And overwhelmed. So I hobble off to slop together an omelette. This I eat straight from the pan, standing, with salt, and using the same fork I whipped it up with.” p. 125
“Global Mom” made me laugh, and cry, and it fed my warped, cranky little kernel of a heart. Far from being royally intimidated by Melissa now, I am impressed with her dignity, her bravery and honesty in sharing of her life and battles and small sacred moments of ordinary, overwhelming days shared within the pages. The chapters concerning the death of her son are tremendously affecting, while providing a balm and comfort to anyone grieving past or current hurts. I will not write more about these chapters, except to say they are poignant, wrenching and sublime.
The first draft of my review of “Global Mom” started with “MDB owes me an apology.” I wasn’t expecting to be so absorbed, affected and altered by this book, but I was. Even if “Global Mom” isn’t to be a type for my year’s reading, I’m hugely glad to have read it, learnt from it, and drunk deeply from its pages and Melissa Dalton-Bradford’s wisdom and experiences: my heart, head and intellect, all.
Recommended to:
Anyone who believes in love, family, devotion
Anyone who wants to live/visit other countries
Not Recommended to:
Those allergic to feeling emotion (you will likely explode)
“You have to read this!” so many friends urged me, and one day M-heart pushed a copy into my willing hands. I knew of Melissa by then – talented, gorgeous, a citizen of the world, vignette master, gracious… and with a heart cracked immensely wide open and generously shared following the awful accidental death of her eldest son.
From what I’d heard, seen and read, Melissa Dalton-Bradford royally intimidated me (even though we’d never met or spoken). Grace, style, charm, artistic ability in her bones and soul-fire, all refined and polished through the condensing tragedy of loss – how could my dusty speck of anxiety and oddity brace against that? Still determined to at least try to read it, I flew my lusted-after copy of “Global Mom” back across the Pacific wondering if I was brave enough to begin the journey into Melissa’s world. In the end, after four months of wanting and reluctance, I decided to start 2014 with “Global Mom”.
This book ripped my head clean off my shoulders, poured enthusiasm, satisfaction, Norway, breathtaking writing, tears, France, social anxiety, displacement, Singapore, laughter, anxiety and family down my throat in a rich, joy clotted stream of delicious prose and gorgeous imagery, and left me parched for more.
In addition to world traveller, citizen of the planet, singer, artist, mother, diplomat, friend and explorer, “wordsmith” obviously belongs on the well-endowed list of nouns and accolades for Dalton-Bradford. “Global Mom” is carefully crafted, each country and episode given loving and frank detail and consideration. Dalton-Bradford shares her struggles, victories, thoughts and everyday realities of life beautifully, crisply, so you are right there in that everyday reality, running through the Versailles gardens, or watching a girl paddle in the middle of a Cambodian river, making mac and cheese, or sitting in an ICU.
“But I’m telling you, after all that variety, all that walking around hunting for just the ambiance, all that comparison shopping for the perfect dish – after all that – like you, I’m completely worn out. And overwhelmed. So I hobble off to slop together an omelette. This I eat straight from the pan, standing, with salt, and using the same fork I whipped it up with.” p. 125
“Global Mom” made me laugh, and cry, and it fed my warped, cranky little kernel of a heart. Far from being royally intimidated by Melissa now, I am impressed with her dignity, her bravery and honesty in sharing of her life and battles and small sacred moments of ordinary, overwhelming days shared within the pages. The chapters concerning the death of her son are tremendously affecting, while providing a balm and comfort to anyone grieving past or current hurts. I will not write more about these chapters, except to say they are poignant, wrenching and sublime.
The first draft of my review of “Global Mom” started with “MDB owes me an apology.” I wasn’t expecting to be so absorbed, affected and altered by this book, but I was. Even if “Global Mom” isn’t to be a type for my year’s reading, I’m hugely glad to have read it, learnt from it, and drunk deeply from its pages and Melissa Dalton-Bradford’s wisdom and experiences: my heart, head and intellect, all.
Recommended to:
Anyone who believes in love, family, devotion
Anyone who wants to live/visit other countries
Not Recommended to:
Those allergic to feeling emotion (you will likely explode)
December 7, 2016
I'm halfway through but can't wait to gush over this book. The author is an absolute delight, literate and vivacious and at once modest, self-deprecating, and honest. It is without question the most enjoyable memoir I've ever read. I'm taken along for the ride of their lives, like her oldest, dearest friend sharing a cup of tea and stories and flourishes and wide-eyed overwhelm all wrapped together in an afternoon draped across comfortable couches.
I love her respect for the cultures she visits, the sense of responsibility she exudes as she does her best to bend herself instead of her surroundings to create a harmonious life for herself and her family. I love her honesty when she finds that she has to slow her own pace and breathe. I feel like I could love her and be loved by her where our lives and styles overlap and where they don't. How many times do you find an author who respects a reader that much?
I buy very few books anymore because I already have too many and am learning the modesty of a simpler life but I will probably buy this one. It's even worth a repeat read in a world with a delightful bazillion books to absorb.
--
I laughed and loved her adventure through the first half of the book and cried through the second half, loving each of them so much more deeply because of their experience - the rawness of it that met a rawness in me, however different. She is right to note that we walk through life handling our minor tragedies as if they are significant and when something significant walks through us all the weights are recalibrated. So hard but so necessary to open us more fully to others.
She goes on to write: “Though I know something about suffering, I can only claim to know of one kind. About the countless other forms of pain and loss like those I’ve just alluded to, I know nothing. It would be offensive for me to suggest that by being a “poverty tourist” I could know much at all about poverty. I can no more know about the poverty and suffering of refugee life from staring into the face of that girl than I can know about the realities of cancer by strolling through a cancer ward. The experience is vicarious and therefore escapable. I stay in my boat. Get back to A/C. Sleep in clean sheets. Eat until I’m full. And catch a flight home. Because the experience of observing extreme poverty is escapable for me, the lessons, however deeply felt in the moment, are too easily unlearned.”
I closed the book loving the binding metaphor of her Norwegian table, hauled with them from place to place and around which they gathered wherever they were. I found validation for my own circuitous path in life (I've moved 26 times myself) and will bubble with a different confidence along my nonconformist path. She felt like a soulmate in the things we shared and helped me better process my own ambivalent feelings about the things we didn't. For me, a life-changing, hope-tending read.
I love her respect for the cultures she visits, the sense of responsibility she exudes as she does her best to bend herself instead of her surroundings to create a harmonious life for herself and her family. I love her honesty when she finds that she has to slow her own pace and breathe. I feel like I could love her and be loved by her where our lives and styles overlap and where they don't. How many times do you find an author who respects a reader that much?
I buy very few books anymore because I already have too many and am learning the modesty of a simpler life but I will probably buy this one. It's even worth a repeat read in a world with a delightful bazillion books to absorb.
--
I laughed and loved her adventure through the first half of the book and cried through the second half, loving each of them so much more deeply because of their experience - the rawness of it that met a rawness in me, however different. She is right to note that we walk through life handling our minor tragedies as if they are significant and when something significant walks through us all the weights are recalibrated. So hard but so necessary to open us more fully to others.
She goes on to write: “Though I know something about suffering, I can only claim to know of one kind. About the countless other forms of pain and loss like those I’ve just alluded to, I know nothing. It would be offensive for me to suggest that by being a “poverty tourist” I could know much at all about poverty. I can no more know about the poverty and suffering of refugee life from staring into the face of that girl than I can know about the realities of cancer by strolling through a cancer ward. The experience is vicarious and therefore escapable. I stay in my boat. Get back to A/C. Sleep in clean sheets. Eat until I’m full. And catch a flight home. Because the experience of observing extreme poverty is escapable for me, the lessons, however deeply felt in the moment, are too easily unlearned.”
I closed the book loving the binding metaphor of her Norwegian table, hauled with them from place to place and around which they gathered wherever they were. I found validation for my own circuitous path in life (I've moved 26 times myself) and will bubble with a different confidence along my nonconformist path. She felt like a soulmate in the things we shared and helped me better process my own ambivalent feelings about the things we didn't. For me, a life-changing, hope-tending read.
June 16, 2014
This book was loaned to me by my own Global Mom friend! Her husband is in the Foreign Services and while the family in this book is not affiliated with the FS, there are similarities nonetheless in the struggles, adaptations, logistics and blessings of raising a family constantly on the move and mostly abroad. I could see in glaring clarity some of the things that have been briefly skimmed over in conversations with my friend and I recognized with a sympathetic heart the situations we have discussed at length.
I literally laughed out loud when this family (in the book) after having lived in Norway and then France, briefly lives in the States. The author tells of her kids' frustration regarding the "Allegiance Chant" thing all the kids know by heart at the schools. This made me laugh because my dear friend shared nearly the exact same situation with me just a couple years ago when they'd been living in Africa and then Australia and had a brief stint in the U.S. before going abroad again. It makes sense when you think about it. If you're integrated and living abroad, what reason would you have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with your children every day? They are busy learning the local customs and songs and culture.
The wordiness and embellished descriptions in this book was enchanting for about 1 chapter. Then I skimmed. A lot. Skim, skim, skim, read, read, read, skim, read, skim. A fascinating life but I remember thinking "OK, enough already! Just say he's tall and blonde instead of taking two paragraphs to say that please."
I will say that one of the chapters that I believe is towards the end of their Norway life deals completely with a 6 hour turbulent ferry ride that involves a LOT of puking. I only read about two paragraphs before it dawned on me what was going to happen so I skipped the chapter entirely. Just a heads up for anyone else who may have a vomit phobia like I do.
So, I appreciated this book as it opened my eyes to even more of the details of my dear friend's over seas living. She has always told me too that it doesn't really matter where you are in the world, everyone has the same basic needs. Food, water, bathroom, bored, tired children. No matter where you are, or what you're doing or who you are with, we are all human and those mundane tasks of everyday life trump all.
This book also provided an intimate glimpse into the Bradford family's life and validated once again the fact that we all have our trials. Every last one of us.
I literally laughed out loud when this family (in the book) after having lived in Norway and then France, briefly lives in the States. The author tells of her kids' frustration regarding the "Allegiance Chant" thing all the kids know by heart at the schools. This made me laugh because my dear friend shared nearly the exact same situation with me just a couple years ago when they'd been living in Africa and then Australia and had a brief stint in the U.S. before going abroad again. It makes sense when you think about it. If you're integrated and living abroad, what reason would you have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with your children every day? They are busy learning the local customs and songs and culture.
The wordiness and embellished descriptions in this book was enchanting for about 1 chapter. Then I skimmed. A lot. Skim, skim, skim, read, read, read, skim, read, skim. A fascinating life but I remember thinking "OK, enough already! Just say he's tall and blonde instead of taking two paragraphs to say that please."
I will say that one of the chapters that I believe is towards the end of their Norway life deals completely with a 6 hour turbulent ferry ride that involves a LOT of puking. I only read about two paragraphs before it dawned on me what was going to happen so I skipped the chapter entirely. Just a heads up for anyone else who may have a vomit phobia like I do.
So, I appreciated this book as it opened my eyes to even more of the details of my dear friend's over seas living. She has always told me too that it doesn't really matter where you are in the world, everyone has the same basic needs. Food, water, bathroom, bored, tired children. No matter where you are, or what you're doing or who you are with, we are all human and those mundane tasks of everyday life trump all.
This book also provided an intimate glimpse into the Bradford family's life and validated once again the fact that we all have our trials. Every last one of us.
April 12, 2014
I have wanted to read this book a long time and this was perfect timing as my family is embarking on our own adventure that could take us around the world. Bradford tells a beautiful story of loss and being found. I love the following quotes from the book and found them good for me to keep in mind as I start this move:
"Everything, every object is ultimately disposable. My people are my disposables."- pg.11, 12
"One cannot have it all. And so we choose. We choose to have each other."- pg. 13
"Significant growth begins with pain."- Pg. 63
"Hon you know what? There's a great big world out there. Great big world? We just had to join it."- pg. 94-95
"Home has come to mean that sense of intertwining, one of unity and comfort, a state of being where you no longer need to tug at the seams and hemline of your spirit to feel at ease. It's when you feel something deep and native within you expand, enlarge, illuminate."- pg. 273
"But no matter where I might find myself, time, quietly yet quite remarkably, always seems to find me."- pg. 274
Through reading this book I learned to lower the bar of our expectations when we encounter big life changes. Tell yourself that it is ok to take one step a day. Jump right into the new life even though it may mean giving it up later. The jump is better than just sticking one toe in. There will be lasting consequences from the jump.
"Everything, every object is ultimately disposable. My people are my disposables."- pg.11, 12
"One cannot have it all. And so we choose. We choose to have each other."- pg. 13
"Significant growth begins with pain."- Pg. 63
"Hon you know what? There's a great big world out there. Great big world? We just had to join it."- pg. 94-95
"Home has come to mean that sense of intertwining, one of unity and comfort, a state of being where you no longer need to tug at the seams and hemline of your spirit to feel at ease. It's when you feel something deep and native within you expand, enlarge, illuminate."- pg. 273
"But no matter where I might find myself, time, quietly yet quite remarkably, always seems to find me."- pg. 274
Through reading this book I learned to lower the bar of our expectations when we encounter big life changes. Tell yourself that it is ok to take one step a day. Jump right into the new life even though it may mean giving it up later. The jump is better than just sticking one toe in. There will be lasting consequences from the jump.
June 26, 2014
4 stars, or maybe 3.5. Really didn't love it at first, but once I got accustomed to her longer prose writing style I started to enjoy it! Spoilers fyi. She tells about her family moving all over the world, living for a few years in Paris, Munich, Singapore, new jersey, and more. She has 4 children over the course of her life loses the eldest, parker, at age 18, when he dives into a whirlpool to try to help another boy, who escapes, and he gets stuck and drowns. This is the part of the story that helps me connect to the author the most. Obviously i have never lost a child, but I have experienced such strong feelings of grief and loss, and life just goes on, and no one really cares. She talked about that, about moving on, while literally moving on to new countries where no one knew her son, or her story. I feel like the next time someone tells me they lost someone, I can just cry with them, no matter how little I know them, because that is always what I want to do when I hear someone's story of grief or loss or trial.
Since I hope to one day live abroad as well, specifically in paris, it was lovely to hear about the experiences of a fellow mormon in a place I want to live as well. It gave me hope, that despite the difficulties of parisian and french bureaucracy, there can be much happiness and light found as well.
Since I hope to one day live abroad as well, specifically in paris, it was lovely to hear about the experiences of a fellow mormon in a place I want to live as well. It gave me hope, that despite the difficulties of parisian and french bureaucracy, there can be much happiness and light found as well.
August 10, 2016
It took me a while to get into this book. Bradford's dense writing style took too much effort to wade through. But eventually, either I got used to her style, or as the story progressed, her narrative unfolded more naturally. I ended up loving Global Mom. I especially enjoyed the chapters when they lived in Versailles and Paris, since I recently traveled there and could visualize the places she described. I also quite enjoyed reading about the other countries they lived in that I have not been to, as it enriched my view and understanding of those countries in a small way. Global Mom made me envy the culturally-rich life Bradford has lived while making me acutely grateful for the less-exotic but comfortably stable lifestyle I enjoy.
I am amazed (as I usually am amazed by memoirs) that Bradford managed to remember, in incredible detail, events that happened many years ago. It seems that she was faithful in keeping a journal, which surely lent assistance in the memory department. I am amazed, also, by Bradford's talent for learning languages, and I admire her strength, faith, and resilience.
I am amazed (as I usually am amazed by memoirs) that Bradford managed to remember, in incredible detail, events that happened many years ago. It seems that she was faithful in keeping a journal, which surely lent assistance in the memory department. I am amazed, also, by Bradford's talent for learning languages, and I admire her strength, faith, and resilience.
March 20, 2014
I really loved this book. I wasn't sure I would through the first few chapters which were a little too overworked with flowery metaphors. However, Bradford seemed to settle into just telling her story in her own voice and it became something really fascinating and beautiful. The author is a great storyteller and I enjoyed her clever and humorous descriptions of the various cultures and people their family encountered. I especially loved learning a bit about what it is like to be an expatriate in Paris, as I have often wished for that experience. (The idea of family fieldtrips to the Louvre with our sketchbooks...) I share her love for cultures and peoples of the world and was inspired by how she endeavoured to immerse her family into each country's culture as they moved around. The sense of actively being a part of something larger while building strong family ties was a strong theme for me. Her insights on family and especially on the loss they experienced were profound.
I recommend listening to this on Audible, narrated by the author with the bonus of hearing her sing (she is an accomplished vocalist also) the lullabies and folk songs she includes in the book.
I recommend listening to this on Audible, narrated by the author with the bonus of hearing her sing (she is an accomplished vocalist also) the lullabies and folk songs she includes in the book.
March 25, 2014
I loved this book. I was struck first of all with how nonjudgmental the author was in encountering radically different cultural attitudes at her first few addresses. If I were to move to Norway with tiny kids, I would have a really hard time trusting the system that prescribed long hours a day of outside play in snow and sleet with no equipment or direction. Then, to move to France where children were in school for 8 hour days with one shorter day "to get in all of their sport" --would have left me reeling. Ms. Bradford seems to have rolled with it however, and didn't spare herself in writing about when she couldn't deal well with the stress and fatigue. She laid herself bare in writing about her grief, helping me understand better those grieving around me. She wrote about Singapore and Southeast Asia with compassion and clarity, not sugarcoating the truth about the hard lives lived there. This book opened my eyes in more ways than one.
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