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Worn but not Broken Life and Love Today Is For Me By Victoria Valentine 5.5 x 8.5 paperback, 234 pages, 39 poems, 9 stories $20.00 USA ISBN: 13: 978-0-9843602-1-5 ISBN: 10: 0-9843602-1-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2010928871 Published by Water Forest Press Books
Layout & Design by Victoria Valentine Front Cover Art by Pamela Delli Colli Back Cover & Interior Art by Maria Zeldis
Victoria Valentine has put together a book of 39 poems and 9 stories of fiction, fables and fantasy. Victoria does not hold back as a writer. Her writing is sensual, tantalizing, painful and lyrical. The reader will not ever yawn when reading this book. The photographs in "Worn but not Broken" are romantic and artful.
Valentine’s stories hit the gut of the reader. In "Hold My Hand," the story of John Blake and Anita Werner, is a deeply rooted portrayal of how strong one's love can be for another, no matter what lemons life may hurl at you. Anita's sudden blindness from a rare illness and near hopelessness of recovery does not stop John from loving her. This story kept my heart beating at a fast pace. In the poem "Love," Victoria takes this ageless emotion to a whole new level, she writes,” You cannot exist/Without my touch./I am your heaven/Your hell, /Bruised and weary/You wear my scars. When I read the poem, my immediate thought was shades of Heathcliff and Cathy, who shared the same soul.
Ms. Valentine is endlessly versatile. In "Duplicity Reign," she wraps herself in fairytale and fantasy. "The breeze was her secret messenger, because it swept over him daily, returning to her the thrilling fragrances of sea, stars, his warmth and love, and dreams of ever-after." Now switch to another story, "Isn't Life Ironic?" which tells of the harshness of life, about a young unmarried pregnant woman, a cold brutal father, domestic violence and divorce. It is raw, with no fantasy and fairytale to cellophane life's realities. Another example and one of my favorite poems is "If I Were April." It is a collage of romance, pain, and serenity. The third stanza of the poem reads: your summer blaze/caught in fiery fields/stretching toward my winter/where you melt jagged frost/in December pain.
After reading the pages of "Worn but not Broken," one understands exactly why Victoria Valentine gave the book the title. Filled with love, happiness, pain, torment, and sensuality, the makings of life, we all seem to emerge the same way. We are worn from life, but not broken because there is so much purpose in this life. After reading "Quietly" and "The Beautiful Bird Song," the reader cannot not help but understand the fruitfulness of life.
"Worn but not Broken" is a full plate of quality organic literature.
Reviewed By Holly Bianchi
"Holly Bianchi is a contributor to the Atlantic Highlands Herald newspaper, and author of "Images of America: Sea Bright" (2008) and "Images of America: Leonardo" (2001), published by Arcadia Publishing. She is also a poet and reviewer for Skyline Publications and Water Forest Press books."
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