Lifesaving: A Memoir Paperback – April 1, 2000

This book made me think, and remember. The author writes succinctly, evocatively, making me see and feel everything she was going through. The memories she gave me were from my own time living in Spain, interestingly, near to where she lived, and in the same years. Before reading this book I'd say I couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for her to lose both her parents in such an horrific way, but, after reading this, I certainly felt I could empathise to an extent, due to her wonderfully descriptive writing. She told me. I felt I was at her side, as she went through all her horrors, even making me cry here and there. I watched her grow into adulthood, ever striving to come to terms with her loss, and finally finding a certain acceptance, if not peace. The title of her book is perfect, for trying to save herself from spiralling further out of control, even if she couldn't use her childhood learned lifesaving skills to save her parents. The book became a page-turner for me, to see how she did it, how she survived. Her writing has nothing superfluous in it, every word needing to be there, and beautifully chosen.

This book is a marvel...connecting each of us to our own sense of loss, even if we did not lose our parents tragically and suddenly. There is loss of parents, whether through death, or simply growing up and apart, loss of innocence, loss of youth...all is delved into with the keenest yet gentlest of inquiry and revelation. Beautifully written, for everyone to read. A solace to the soul. A place to lay your head down and just breathe into the pain and joy of being human.

Winner of a Lambda Literary Award, Barrington's memoir chronicles the years after the deaths of her parents during a cruise ship tragedy. Running from her grief, as well as her emerging desires for women, Barrington travels to Spain to work as a tour guide for a winery. There, she submerges herself in her work and in nightly encounters with various men. It's not until many years pass, that Barrington is able to grapple with her grief and visit her parents' grave in Gibraltar. This autobiography is about the struggle to overcome past tragedies and pain, and to finally embrace the full emotional range of one's self in the journey to wholeness. I was rather enchanted with Barrington's style, yet I felt she didn't delve into the depths as much as the memoir warranted. She does address this in the narrative, where she remarks on how people reacted upon hearing of the deaths of her parents at sea. Everyone does deal with tragedy in different ways, and who's to say which is more appropriate?

"Lifesaving" is a skillfully written memoir that often reads like poetry, and tells an utterly fascinating story. Once I began reading, I couldn't stop. Judith Barrington writes about her first three years after the drowning deaths of her parents in 1963, passengers on the ill-fated cruise ship, Lakonia. And around those core three years Barrington intertwines threads from other chapters of her life that frame the story like a finely crocheted border.Long after reading the final passages in Barrington's memoir, her images continue to captivate, and yes, haunt me---whether imagining the cold night sea that engulfed her parents, or picturing the author, years later, watching home movies from the 1950s, pushing the pause button to scrutinize and remember her mother's hands.This memoir also left me ruminating over people and life changing events that I have grappled with in my own life. Judith Barrington's vulnerability and honesty in telling her difficult story are an inspiration for those of us seeking the rawer truths in our own lives.

I read Lifesaving - actually, it feels truer to say I went with Barrington to Spain, to her nineteen-year-old life, where I spent the weekend with her, mesmerized and attentive to all she experienced; every choice, each discovery. I feel awed and deeply affected. I am not a writer, but I can see and appreciate how creatively and beautifully Barrington structured her memoir. The places where she intertwines her body/experience with her mother's stunned me. In a way, I feel that the whole book allows the reader to do the same with her, so it becomes the readers' experience, too. It's been good to walk in the territory of the fear of grief with someone who got to the other side. I experience this as a gift of courage. Thank you, Judith Barrington.

This book is cause for celebration. Judith Barrington writes with refreshing honesty and emotion, and she doesn't take any shortcuts or easy-outs when it comes to dealing with grief, sexuality, and growing up. I came away from "Lifesaving" breathless and moved. A deeply compelling story, it dwells in grief at the same time that it celebrates the life and growth found within it. The writing is subtle and raw. This book prompted me to take up my pen and write again. An underappreciated, relatively unknown gem that I hope more people discover.

LIFESAVING reads like more like a best-selling novel than a nonfiction memoir. The narrative moves swiftly--like a current--carrying the reader unaware into the deep of the material. The author interweaves light and dark so skillfully that the reader experiences many layers of feeling before realizing the haunting aspects of what is happening. And the movement between thoughtful reflection and facts seems as natural as air.