Living in the Heartland

All reviews of Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories (Paperback) are taken from Amazon.com

April 16, 2010
By F.C. Boyd “BookPleasures” (Denver, CO)
This book is about three women and the choices they made for their lives. Each woman, a different nationality with perhaps more in common than they knew, all living in the Dayton area. These real women, Nancy, Ife, and Ellyn give us a detailed view of their experiences through life and what those choices meant to them and their families. These are ordinary women doing ordinary things. They are women that have not always made the best decision when you look at it from the reader’s point of view but they still learned from their mistakes and made the best of their situations.

Pamela Ferris-Olson keeps the tone of the book in check in a way I have never read an author do prior to her. The tone never takes on the “feel sorry for me” tone prevalent in so many books about women and their choices. The almost proud tone is refreshing in that it doesn’t apologize to anyone for what happened nor does it take on a “blaming” attitude that circumstances were to blame for choices these women made. This alone is heartwarming as women are survivors and in spite of the bad choices that are made over and over again sometimes, these, like so many women find their way out of situations using their strength and eventual wisdom.

I felt the Introduction was longer than necessary and almost took on a tone of justification of why the book was written, which was surprising considering the tone of the remainder of the book.

The author took Ellyn’s story and seemed to dig deeper into the family since Ellyn was adopted. Pamela Ferris-Olson did a wonderful job at incorporating the different thoughts and feelings of so many people in this family. The inclusion of the emails and diaries were especially helpful in creating the heart strings that connected the reader to the family, during times the family was apart from each other. There was a real sense of “knowing” this family and all they were going through.

The postscript was also done well letting us know what has become of these women and even though their lives were not easy ones, they carved out success in their own terms and made it happen with their determination and stamina. They all continue to live life to the fullest.

April 12, 2010
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
This review is from: Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories (Paperback)
One makes their way through life by meeting challenges head on. “Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories” is a collection of memoirs recorded by Pamela Ferris-Olson as she seeks to tell the life stories of three particular women who rose up and faced the challenges of their life and what made them above others with their attitudes that stood against the grain. For those seeking stories of inspirational women, “Living in the Heartland” is intriguing and highly worthwhile reading.

April 12, 2010
By Jaime Skelton (West Jordan, UT)
Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories begins 500 miles away from its heart in Dayton, Ohio, as the author, Pamela Ferris-Olson, transports us to a summer evening at Staten Island. Here, sitting beside her waiting for the ferry, she tells us of the thoughts that drove her to writing the pages that follow, of how she seeks to pull upon the common song in the human heart to introduce three special women to the reader, in a search for not just tolerance, but human understanding and awareness.

Contained within the 306 pages of this book are the stories of three minority women, each with a different ethnic and personal background, each with their own unique struggle. Nancy, a Native American, seeks a better life than her Seneca reservation can afford, joining the Navy at a young age, and though she deals with abusive relationships and the struggles of being a single mother to several children, she discovers that “people have the power to affect the direction of their lives.” From a devout Muslim family comes Ife, whose youth was a struggle for identity and self-pride, and whose adulthood seeks to further strengthen her independence as a woman of God and to complete her education. Finally, there is Ellyn, a young Korean born with a cleft-palate and adopted into an American family, seeking out her cultural identity and learning to have two loving families from separate worlds.

The book speaks like its cover: calmly, with big, dark eyes looking back at you, full lips curling into a hopeful smile, and the slight grace of the pearl necklace around the neck. Pamela’s style is clear and concise; she makes no efforts to exaggerate the stories of these women. Instead, each story speaks kindly, offering each tale simply but with a telling narrative that seeks to de-emphasize the author’s presence and focus instead on highlight the voice of these women.

Of special note is the author’s skillful weaving of the voices of other women into each narrative. The story of Nancy is interspersed with the thoughts and concerns of the woman’s eldest daughter, presented in a blog format; Ife’s story offers the insights of several other Muslim women. Ellyn’s story leaves the author behind almost entirely as it alternates between her adoptive mother’s letters to her growing daughter, Ellyn’s own narrative, the responses of another Korean girl to Ellyn’s story, and the letters from her birth mother and sister.

From the moment Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories was on the way to my mailbox, I was full of anticipation for this story. I adore hearing, reading, and feeling the experience of other people, especially women who have not only made it through their internal and external adversity, but have grown in the process. Pamela Ferris-Olson’s story-telling skills did not disappoint; and by the time I came to understand even the author’s own growth through writing this book, I had also undergone my own journey guided by her words.

If you are seeking a story of inspiration, if you are looking for motivation, or if you simply need something to lift yourself from the dark spirits of adversity surrounding you, this book belongs on your shelf. Living in the Heartland is both sustaining and educating, and is truly a “must read.”

April 7, 2010
By L Ditz.
“I love to read, and have read a lot of great books, but ‘Living in the Heartland’ is one of the most well-written books I’ve ever read. Reading about the struggles in the lives of these three women made me realize just how blessed I’ve been. Their lives have been incredibly difficult, but they have never given up. At the end of the individual stories I was left feeling somewhat saddened, but the author pulled everything together at the end with an update on each of the three women which left me uplifted and encouraged. The photos of the women were a nice touch. After reading so much about their lives, I truly felt I knew them, and it was great to have the photos to put with the names. Everyone should read this book.”

March 10, 2010
By Faith A. Draper (Michgan, USA)
Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories by Pamela Ferris-Olson gives a unique look into the lives and history of three minority women. These women have endured hardships similar to many women in America. However, they have done so, while at the same time struggling with the problems that come with being part of a minority group.

The author has written the book in a way that leaves the reader feeling like they have met the three ‘extraordinary women’ in person. Rather than a straight biography form of writing, Ferris-Olson has written Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories to include interviews, thoughts and letters from the women themselves, as well as input from friends, family, and counter-parts.

The three women in the book are not Nobel Peace Prize winners; notable movie stars, or married to a famous politician. Once reading the book and these women’s stories though, you will walk away with a feeling each one deserves a special award. You might not expect to find three remarkable heroines in the Heartland of America, but in sharing the ladies struggles, determination, and successes you will no doubt look differently at minority groups.

As Pamela Ferris-Olson states: “Ife, Nancy, Ellyn, and the other women openly and earnestly shared their stories with me. They believed in this project. I owe it to them to see their stories are told so others might benefit.”

First, you will meet Nancy. A Native American who is proud of her heritage but at the same time struggled with the confines of the reservation and the limits of a future imposed there. Nancy joined the United States Navy but struggled with issues of self-esteem, abusive relationships, and isolation. None of it stopped her from pursuing a better life. You also meet Nancy’s daughter who contributes to the book by way of blog entries.

Next we meet Ife an African American Muslim woman. Ife was raised in the Muslim tradition with the long garments and a veil covering most of her face. The sheltered life Ife led as a child did not prepare her for
teenage life in the world. This remarkable woman struggled with poverty, discrimination issues and raising two sons. In Ife’s story Olson includes input from other Muslim.

Last, but certainly not least, is Ellyn’s story. Born in Korea, Ellyn faced major problems from the very beginning. Born with a cleft palete to parents, who could not afford the medical bills, she was given up for adoption. Her American parents provided for her needs but she grew up struggling with a desire to meet her biological family in Korea. Much of Ellyn’s story is told through letters in a journal her adoptive mother Mary shares.

Pamela Ferris-Olson chose these three minority women in hopes the book will help break down barriers between people and illustrate how remarkable women are in the way we cope with challenges, even large ones like the women in her book have overcome.

Added Note: I highly recommend this book, the three ladies are an inspiration to all women facing trials and tribulations of today’s world and after finishing .”Living in the Heartland: Three Extraordinary Women’s Stories” by Pamela Ferris-Olson I felt as if I knew the three women and the author in person.

February 12, 2010
By Robert Spokane
“Living…” is a series of imtimate stories about three women, facing real challeges that can easily become overwhelming. These women “stay with the program” and and are making a difference in the world. Ms Ferris-Olson writes an excellent story that can inspire others ot lead a life of purpose.