Acceptance

by Katherine H. Burkman, Judith Roof (illustrator)

46 pages, Paperback

Published February 18, 2025

Reviews

[B. Conklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine Burkman’s “Acceptance” is a fanciful meditation on aging. We follow the narrator, a 90-year-old woman named Sally, through a series of lucid dreams, most of them guided by Elbert, a talking bird who serves as a spiritual sounding board. With Sally’s ability to sprout wings, they pursue together, and sometimes apart, the meaning of life, a seemingly monumental task for such a slim volume. Yet their quest is engaging as they hang out on clouds, escape storms, seek shelter in dwarf-inhabited caves, travel back in time, intervene in wild animal disputes, and even discourse with a “philosophical pig.” Oh, and there’s always time for a quick nap or two, sometimes within a dream itself. Throughout, Burkman weaves a delicate tapestry that interplays waking and dreaming, light and shadow, rage and acceptance. As the series of discrete yet interconnected narratives progresses, we’re not always sure if we’re experiencing reality or are embedded in one of Sally’s dreams. Often, Sally herself isn’t sure until the end of a vignette. This all makes for a storyline that is by turns quirky and reflective, cheeky and candid, amusing and surreal. Clever drawings by Judith Roof add to the playful atmosphere of the book.