Yearning : A Memoir

It took courage for Sally to write this memoir. She not only shares the sad realities of her childhood, but she is also candid when doing so. Sally's details have a strong effect on readers, whether describing her difficult relationship with her mother or when explaining her own disappointing marriage to her first husband. How Sally quietly overcame so much unhappiness and a learning disability to exhibit qualities of leadership in her family, school, and community is a fascinating story. Sally's story proves to me that sometimes the hardships in childhood can become a catalyst and, for Sally, a personal challenge to become a big achiever. Hers is truly a story of the triumph of the human spirit. If you like books about stong women, YEARNING:A MEMOIR is one of the best.

This is a sincere and extremely personal story of the circumstances of a life that shaped a daughter/sister/wife/mother - all the roles and many of the challenges of so many women. We meet Sally as the youngest of two siblings born to parents ill-prepared for parenthood and survivor of a difficult marriage. Drawing on the love and sense of family she experienced in her foster family, she found the resilience to give her own children the security and love she was denied the first three decades of her life. She writes with empathy and understanding of the forces that made her life so difficult and we share in the ultimate happiness she finds in the loving family she enjoys today. This memoir is a nostalgic page-turner that makes the reader look back and remember - perhaps more gently.

Sally is tough, brave, scrappy, yet vulnerable. Her journey through childhood is driven by her need to be loved...a study in resilience. This hopeful book is a page turner.

Sally was a classmate in high school, so I was particulary excited to find she had written a memoir. I found that once I began reading her book, I could not put it down. It is a compelling story of introspection, a search for identity, and her success in reaching her ultimate goal of fulfillment.

Faced with a life of adversity, Sally Mann's heartwrenching story is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Her search for family and love speaks to a primal need we can all relate to. A definite must read!