Carolyn Nash

Mit "Raising Abel" gelingt Carolyn Nash eine ergreifende und berührende Autobiografie. 
Im Alter von 38 Jahren beschließt die Autorin, ein Pflegekind aufzunehmen und später zu adoptieren. Eine unglaubliche Herausforderung, weil der 3-jährige Abel ein von schwerem Missbrauch gekennzeichnetes Kind ist, dessen Entwicklung zu keinem Zeitpunkt normal verläuft.
C. N. schildert lebendig und einfühlsam das Heranwachsen ihres Sohnes bis zum Erwachsenenalter, ihre von unzähligen Problemen, Rückschritten, aber auch wunderbaren Momenten gekennzeichnete Mutter-Sohn Beziehung, getragen von einer unerschütterlichen Liebe und Hoffnung. Es ist gleichzeitig auch eine Geschichte über die Aufarbeitung ihrer eigenen Kindheitsprobleme.
Ein überaus empfehlenswertes Buch, das - einmal begonnen - kaum aus der Hand zu legen ist.

Baymont, a small town in California. People know each other. Callie and Peter Carson are preparing their divorse at a laywer`s office when an earthquake rocks the town. Buildings and cars are smashed, people dead or wounded. Callie and Peter decide to put aside all hatred, going to find their little son who`s in a day care. More than once they are facing the choice helping injured and trapped inhabitants or continuing the search for Denny.It`s a traumatic situation, triggering memories, Callie had not realized for a long time. Maybe she`s still in love with Peter and maybe you have to hate someone first before you can really love him.
Like in "The Trunk key" the author illuminates only e few hours in people`s live, an extraordinary situation with a high density of incidents. So again it`s kind of a short story.
There are three central thoughts within the story climbs to it`s end: Maybe you have to love someone first before you can hate them, do you have to hate yourself in order to hate someone else?, Maybe you have to hate someone before you can love him.
Again the reader is confronted with a traumatic experience in her childhood, the protagonist Callie is still suffering from.
Well, I had to re-read the story `cause I could`nt make up my mind, whether it might be possible that someone who feels guilty for a death of a person would never be able to accept his partner`s love, declining to destroy instead of building up a relationship. Surprisingly the earthquake brings up the hidden memories, and clears the way for maybe a new start in relationship. Well, maybe it`s not unlikely to happen. Besides I really liked the description of the town, it`s Victorian style, it`s decline `cause people gave up shopping locally. And it`s worth mentioning that the style of description lets you stand among the people, amidst the action, able to feel, smell, hear. This is brilliantly performed.