BUY NOW:
Off Kilter
A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage
Growing up in the 1950s was not Ozzie & Harriet and Father Knows Best for Linda C. Wisniewski. Unlike the characters on her favorite TV shows, Linda learned to be quiet, atone for the sins of others, and just plain suffer as a way of life. Only when she came to terms with her Polish Catholic heritage, her physical deformity, and her widowed mother did she find inner peace and the keys to her own happiness.
Readers of Angela’s Ashes and The Joy Luck Club will enjoy this mother-daughter saga from sorrow to love.
Praise
“A splendid first memoir about the difficult business of finding balance in our lives. Funny, honest, deeply moving, Off Kilter reminds us just how hard it is to adjust to the physical pain, the emotional loss, and even the surprising beauty of being fully who we are.”
—Susan Wittig Albert, author
“Off Kilter offers a window into a woman’s life as she comes to peace with her Polish ancestry, her mother’s depressive behavior, and her own scoliosis, a side-to-side curvature of the spine, discovered when she was thirteen. Linda Wisniewski weaves the threads beautifully together, sometimes on a slant, as she leads the reader into the compelling story of a survivor. After a few pages, the reader is captured by the author’s voice — both heartfelt and perceptive, that of a friend — and by the narrative itself.”
—Susan Tiberghien, author of One Year to a Writing Life
“Expertly balancing pathos and triumph, Wisniewski never wallows in self-pity… In this sense,Off Kilter is a fine testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the healing power of the written word.”
—Marc Schuster, Small Press Reviews
“Despite the subject matter, the book is a surprisingly easy read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for peace, self-worth and contentment in their lives. In fact, I’m sure most readers will derive something positive from the book.”
—Betty Gelean, Front Street Reviews
“Compelling….highly recommended for community library memoir collections.”
—Midwest Book Review’s
Small Press Bookwatch