by Rachel Manija Brown
Although I didn't spend part of my childhood in Ahmednagar, India, with parents who were devoted to Meher Baba, Rachel Manija Brown's experiences, disturbing as well as heartening, are eerily familiar to me in an uncanny way. Her book opens with a dedication page that brought me tears of relief. A few pages later, reading the following quote, I knew I'd found what I was hoping for when I first heard about this memoir by a woman who loves books as much as I do:
"If you have skeletons in the closet,
you may as well make them dance."
-- George Bernard Shaw
Memorable and moving, too, are her words about finding relief from loneliness while exploring the natural world:
"I was lonely at school, at home, in the town, and in the Baba places. But I wasn't lonely in the country. I wasn't even alone. I was surrounded by life."
I'm reminded of Bob Dylan singing:
"Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they'll be smiling . . ."
Rachel Manija Brown laughs with the fishes and smiles with the seagulls. And that's not all. She thrives.
