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Story Carrier: A Collection of Tales of The Disappeared
This dramatic, fast-paced memoir traces a woman's search for a story to explain sudden losses she experienced as a young child, including her sister's cancer death, her father's disappearance, and her overnight move away from home, events that fractured her relationship with her mother and thrust her into a life-long pattern of abandonment and loss. Juggling professional success with unresolved grief, she follows a career path as a writer, journalist, professor, and spiritual director, traveling from West Texas to the plains of Spain, the forests of Pennsylvania, and the Alps in southern France trying to find a mysterious tale carried for generations in her family. Resisting the pull to either condemn or quickly forgive those who hurt her and avoiding the temptation to fall into the trap of spiritual bypassing, she chooses, instead, to follow the story's call across thresholds of time and space, where she discovers a family legacy that illuminates the lives of all the women in her family. A universal story that speaks into the often-troubled relationship between mothers and daughters. Blending ancestral storytelling with spirituality and mystery, this is a memoir that will inspire the reader to believe in the power of story to transform the storyteller into a story carrier, where the magic of healing can begin.
178 pages, Paperback
Published February 29, 2024
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 23, 2024
STORY CARRIER: A COLLECTION OF TALES OF THE DISAPPEARED, by Jane Clark. This story is Jane’s Memoir. Jane does an excellent job of detailing how generations of behavior impact children. Her story is also the story of an extremely courageous woman who used her voice to survive and succeed in field of writing that was dominated by men. Jane shares her journey as a single parent and the struggles that prevailed. Mostly this book shows how not explaining to children what has happened to family members when those family members disappear impacts lives and keeps impacting lives for generations.
When I first got the book, I immediately began to read. I was going to just read a snippet of Story Carrier but could not put it down. Dr. Clark weaves her story in a way that keeps the reader wanting to know more. I encourage anyone who enjoys reading about a seeming underdog challenging the bullies to read this memoir. Jane fights back and moves forward.
Story Carrier: A Collection of Tales of The Disappeared takes the reader on a journey following Jane’s life. From childhood to now. Jane tells stories of parents, grandparents, husbands, and children. These stories are a mix of actual events, memories, dreams, mythology and include paranormal experiences. Jane’s use of these resources makes the read most enjoyable.
The story of Jane at 4 years old is not to be missed. She was a force to be reckoned with even then. That force comes to bear in many of the life experiences that Jane writes about. Jane’s desire for the truth and willingness to search for it are a wonder to read about.
Jane makes the places she has lived and worked come alive in her writing. I was able to follow from story to story, feeling the energy of speaking truth and seeking family history to fill in the blanks in her life.
Jane was able to make a case for family secrets and “disappearances” to be the web that held captive all heirs to come in the family dysfunction. As a therapist and student of religions, I believe that “the sins of the father being visited on the sons” (Holy Bible) is about how our ancestors’ actions deeply impact our lives and our psyche. The disappearances, AKA abandonment, set children up to have difficulties with self-worth and relationships.
The techniques used in this memoir add symbolic resonance. We see Jane examine her own subconscious mindset, create a personal mythology, and analyze her own psyche as she recounts her life story. The writer taps into the archetypal, mystical, spiritual, and psychological underpinnings of human experience.
A compelling read for anyone interested in exploring what stories they are carrying.
Debra Hackett, LISW-S, LICDC
Hackett Counseling & Consulting, LLC
Developer of “Dynamics of Victimization”, A course for the University of Cincinnati, Criminal Justice Department.
Speaker, Blogger, Course Creator
When I first got the book, I immediately began to read. I was going to just read a snippet of Story Carrier but could not put it down. Dr. Clark weaves her story in a way that keeps the reader wanting to know more. I encourage anyone who enjoys reading about a seeming underdog challenging the bullies to read this memoir. Jane fights back and moves forward.
Story Carrier: A Collection of Tales of The Disappeared takes the reader on a journey following Jane’s life. From childhood to now. Jane tells stories of parents, grandparents, husbands, and children. These stories are a mix of actual events, memories, dreams, mythology and include paranormal experiences. Jane’s use of these resources makes the read most enjoyable.
The story of Jane at 4 years old is not to be missed. She was a force to be reckoned with even then. That force comes to bear in many of the life experiences that Jane writes about. Jane’s desire for the truth and willingness to search for it are a wonder to read about.
Jane makes the places she has lived and worked come alive in her writing. I was able to follow from story to story, feeling the energy of speaking truth and seeking family history to fill in the blanks in her life.
Jane was able to make a case for family secrets and “disappearances” to be the web that held captive all heirs to come in the family dysfunction. As a therapist and student of religions, I believe that “the sins of the father being visited on the sons” (Holy Bible) is about how our ancestors’ actions deeply impact our lives and our psyche. The disappearances, AKA abandonment, set children up to have difficulties with self-worth and relationships.
The techniques used in this memoir add symbolic resonance. We see Jane examine her own subconscious mindset, create a personal mythology, and analyze her own psyche as she recounts her life story. The writer taps into the archetypal, mystical, spiritual, and psychological underpinnings of human experience.
A compelling read for anyone interested in exploring what stories they are carrying.
Debra Hackett, LISW-S, LICDC
Hackett Counseling & Consulting, LLC
Developer of “Dynamics of Victimization”, A course for the University of Cincinnati, Criminal Justice Department.
Speaker, Blogger, Course Creator
February 20, 2024
Review- Story Carrier: A collection of Stories of the Disappeared
Three brutal life events end the innocence of early childhood which embarks the author on a mythic journey into a psychological descent of loss and abandonment. How does a 2 year old child cope when her older sister who carried her like a baby doll dies to cancer, and no one explains to her the finality of death? Shortly after her sister’s death, her father leaves the family and she is not allowed to ask about his whereabouts. The author’s mother remarries a military man, and the family moves away from the familiarity of her home environment and her beloved grandparents. She is moved all the way to Spain for a couple of years where she lost hope of anyone ever finding her and her finding her lost father.
The little girl copes by relying on her hyper vigilance of adults and looking for any clues from the land she lived in-the West Texas landscape; the harsh wind, the relentless sun and desert sand. The author at a very young age, tapped into what Jung calls the “ancestral psyche,” and her role as the story carrier was initiated into a lifelong longing for the search of meaning and wholeness. In adolescence, gaining some ego mastery, she turns inward and relies on her imagination to weave a story she carried into maturity. “I felt unsafe in the world and longed for a haven where I could exist without fear of abandonment or loss. Eventually, I found such a place by turning inward, where I lived in my imagination,’ she aptly explains her grand coping strategy that crafted her writing skills.
This book is about the unraveling of the family myths through stories of her mother, her maternal aunt, and her maternal grandmother. The stories needed to be told through the embodied lived situations of the author: in her two marriages; being a single parent to two sons; as a newscaster in a radio station; as a legislative journalist, as a College writing professor; and lastly, as an elder in her battle with osteoporosis. The stories unfold in their own time, and as she transforms her loss and pain through rituals and a pilgrimage to Provence, France they all culminate in the hidden story (source), of her maternal great grandmother.
Mary Aebischer, PhD is former educator and Jungian-oriented psychotherapist and scholar in mythology and women’s psychology.
Three brutal life events end the innocence of early childhood which embarks the author on a mythic journey into a psychological descent of loss and abandonment. How does a 2 year old child cope when her older sister who carried her like a baby doll dies to cancer, and no one explains to her the finality of death? Shortly after her sister’s death, her father leaves the family and she is not allowed to ask about his whereabouts. The author’s mother remarries a military man, and the family moves away from the familiarity of her home environment and her beloved grandparents. She is moved all the way to Spain for a couple of years where she lost hope of anyone ever finding her and her finding her lost father.
The little girl copes by relying on her hyper vigilance of adults and looking for any clues from the land she lived in-the West Texas landscape; the harsh wind, the relentless sun and desert sand. The author at a very young age, tapped into what Jung calls the “ancestral psyche,” and her role as the story carrier was initiated into a lifelong longing for the search of meaning and wholeness. In adolescence, gaining some ego mastery, she turns inward and relies on her imagination to weave a story she carried into maturity. “I felt unsafe in the world and longed for a haven where I could exist without fear of abandonment or loss. Eventually, I found such a place by turning inward, where I lived in my imagination,’ she aptly explains her grand coping strategy that crafted her writing skills.
This book is about the unraveling of the family myths through stories of her mother, her maternal aunt, and her maternal grandmother. The stories needed to be told through the embodied lived situations of the author: in her two marriages; being a single parent to two sons; as a newscaster in a radio station; as a legislative journalist, as a College writing professor; and lastly, as an elder in her battle with osteoporosis. The stories unfold in their own time, and as she transforms her loss and pain through rituals and a pilgrimage to Provence, France they all culminate in the hidden story (source), of her maternal great grandmother.
Mary Aebischer, PhD is former educator and Jungian-oriented psychotherapist and scholar in mythology and women’s psychology.
January 18, 2024
Jane Clark’s recently published memoir, Story Carrier: A Collection of Tales of the Disappeared, doesn’t resemble the traditional linear format of most other memoirs I have read. This memoir contains elements of mystery, mythology, and relevant issues such as the universality of silencing of women. In Clark’s investigation of unknown parts of her family’s past, she fuses her experience as a journalist, writing professor, and poet to tell a story with unexpected twists and turns. This memoir includes the personal details an audience looks for in a memoir, (the struggles and the family ghosts), but also some surprising elements from history, including political events, spiritual perspectives, and the epic mythology that sits under the surface of a world that is not at all ordinary.
This memoir explores the important work of the story carrier in our world, and like the wind carries the seeds of the trees, the story carrier passes these important tales from the depths of the past to the unknows in the future. We are reminded that stories connect generations and cultures; they open eyes to mysteries in our world. Clark leads the readers through her process of investigating untold stories in her family’s past, starting with the childhood disappearance of her sister. Through her journey, Clark invites the readers to consider the power and significance of the stories that we all carry. I read this work slowly, to digest and note the layers of symbolism and the significant imagery that color Clark’s distinct writing style. I’m looking forward to the publication of the accompanying writing workbook.
This memoir explores the important work of the story carrier in our world, and like the wind carries the seeds of the trees, the story carrier passes these important tales from the depths of the past to the unknows in the future. We are reminded that stories connect generations and cultures; they open eyes to mysteries in our world. Clark leads the readers through her process of investigating untold stories in her family’s past, starting with the childhood disappearance of her sister. Through her journey, Clark invites the readers to consider the power and significance of the stories that we all carry. I read this work slowly, to digest and note the layers of symbolism and the significant imagery that color Clark’s distinct writing style. I’m looking forward to the publication of the accompanying writing workbook.
June 19, 2024
Story Carrier is a unique book of tales in that it encompasses the search by the author of her past and who she really was. These are longings that all of us from time to time question and in this quest Jane Clark explains the many turns and twists of her pursuit in dramatic and contemplative form. Parts of her life unknown previously are unearthed as she diligently searches and as a result the style of writing is intriguing causing the reader to be caught up in the author's journey. Set aside two to three hours and enjoy the journey with her as Jane finds the answers to questions long embedded in her mind. You will not want to put the book down until you're finished reading.
August 29, 2025
This memoir hit home. I have my own disappeared stories that need to be written.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews