Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors

This book is an exercise in memoir starting as demonstrated and prompted by the author. Those of us in writing groups will find that the prompts at the end of each chapter are intense and revelatory, if applied to one’s writing and memory. The author was traumatized by the suicide death of her beloved grandmother. Her grandmother was her primary caretaker as well as her major encouragement for journal writing. The excerpts taken from the grandmother’s journals add depth and meaning to the author’s experience of her. The mother of the author also figures into this three generational memory.||This book does border on new age as the author firmly believes that our DNA is filled with ancestral memory and programming. The author also has suffered through major illnesses which have caused her to go deeper into her family traits and feelings. She details her practices in healing and having hope during each of her trials. Memoirists needing encouragement and starters will find his book helpful.