Sailing My Shoe to Timbuktu: A Woman's Adventurous Search for Family, Spirit, and Love

by Joyce Thompson

In this fiercely candid and moving book, novelist Joyce Thompson recounts a difficult yet transforming period in her life. In words that will ring true to anyone in the "sandwich" generation, Thompson tells the story of her troubled marriage ending, her adjustment to single motherhood, finding new love, turning fifty, dealing with sick and dying parents, and somehow discovering a spiritual home in an ancient, earth-centered tradition. Along the way, she comes to terms with the blessings and specters of her own dysfunctional family. This includes her father, a distinguished judge and chronic alcoholic, and her tough, smart mother, a pioneering woman lawyer, who is slowly succumbing to Alzheimer's and whom Thompson helps to die gracefully, despite many traumatic and even ridiculous moments. But with Thompson's lyrical, personal, and evocative writing, she transforms what could have been a soap opera into a rich, moving, and funny story, full of hope. Thompson's novels are about understanding the human condition, and it's no surprise she focuses that gift on her own life and the lives of her family. Elegant, wise, and witty, Sailing My Shoe to Timbuktu , pulls no punches and is delightfully and compulsively readable.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1984

About the author

In 1994, Joyce Thompson took a leave of absence from her literary career to work on high tech’s cutting edge. How to Greet Strangers, her sixth novel, marks her return to her first love, fiction.

She is the author of five previous novels, two collections of short stories and a memoir. Her work has been published in six languages and frequently optioned for film.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you can get past the murky beginning of this book you may find that the story sounds familiar... At least I did, it had a whisper of Eat, Pray, Love, but failed to tell the story as well as Gilbert.

The author attempts to tell three storylines - finding love after divorce, finding a religion that fits with her experiences, and her mother's ailing health due to age and dementia.

The book is really a story about her mother's illness, with failed attempts of the author to weave in these other things that happen in her life. The other two storylines are disjointed diversions from the main story. She mixes up the chronology of the story - talking about her 2nd husband early on in the book, then introducing him midway through the book if not later. I'm not sure what literary technique she is employing. I first thought it may be a braided story. But there is no attempt at braids, only pigtails and ponytails of different lengths.

Since it was written during the early age of memoirs - 2003 - I will give the author a pass. But if you are looking for well-crafted memoirs using braid technique - check out Wild by Cheryl Strand - she is a master at braiding.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts of this book. She was dealing with her mother's aging and Alzheimer's, and that was interesting to me. Her writing is very good, but she wanders from topic to topic and it is less than cohesive at times. I liked less the chapters about the Santeria religion she joined...it was hard to understand and was off putting to me. IMHO>

[linda murray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and contrived

I found this book just a mess of ramblings that made no sense. It is definitely a search for something but found myself bored.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a human being is it is natural to question why God has ceased to communicate with us directly. Most of us have asked this question "why has thou forsaken me?"in times of dire need, when all seems lost. We ask where is the the voice of the big Almighty in the sky? Why can't we hear him or her directly speak to us? Joyce Thompson answers this question (chapter 12) and many more in her book Sailing My Shoe to Timbuktu. It is a book full of answers that not only explores her own very personal,family experiences, but resonates the question that we as collective humans are always searching answers for. It took allot of guts, allot of clout but she does answer these questions and many more while confronting things that many other are afraid to question much less accept. Yup my new favorite author has done it again!

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book by doing a search for women and sailing, and quickly found that, while it has nothing to do with sailing on the ocean (at least not so far), it's the story of a woman's introduction to Orisha worship, another topic of interest to me. (In fact, I wonder if the ile, or house, of Orisha practitioners that she talks about in Oakland is the one I've been to.)

It's also the story of Thompson's troubled family, and of taking care of her mother as she slips further into Alzheimers.

I could see where some people might see this as two books in one, but I loved it. Some profound insights into the gods and spirit.

[Ctetlow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Family members are dealing with the issue of dementia and Alzheimers and this Bainbridge Island writer alerted me to some unknown symptoms (losing the sense of smell). However, the author should have kept her religious story and her dealing with her mother in two different books.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little long winded and off the wall.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me. Couldn't handle the Alzheimer/Santeria brew right now.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

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