“A wise, candid, and emotionally powerful memoir.” Kirkus Reviews
“Barish’s brave memoir reminds us that understanding our trauma can be a first step toward healing. It also is a beautiful story of a blooming faith.” Marcia Meier, Brevity
One afternoon in the spring of 1972, a Mack truck sped through a residential intersection and collided with a station wagon carrying a young girl and her friend on a ride home from school. The accident shattered the girls’ realities. A blanket of silence fell over them until they reconnected at their twentieth high school reunion. That conversation set me on a twenty-year journey, reflected in seven springs, that reunited me with my past, my self and what I now understand as faith.
“Lyrically and poetically written, Seven Springs captures the author’s journey of healing as she unpacks the unprocessed trauma lingering in her body and soul from a childhood car accident. It is a meditation on life and death, expression of emotions, carrying family wounds and finding strength and courage in friendships, nature and the Jewish spiritual tradition. So many of these themes resonate with me personally though I know that Barish’s story will carry meaning for readers from all backgrounds and experiences.” Gabrielle Kaplan Mayer
“In an era of growing appreciation for the long-term ramifications of trauma, Ellen Blum Barish’s memoir offers a tender exploration of the shock and loss around a childhood car accident. Barish traces the ripples of this seemingly simple trauma into relationships, physical health, emotional wellbeing, and her Jewish faith, making of them a heartfelt, engaging story. I recommend it.” —Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, author of Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art & Practice of Spiritual Memoir
“I was very touched by the story itself, the beautiful writing and the spiritual resonance that was present.” Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg
My memoir, Seven Springs (Shanti Arts), is available here.
Read the reviews of Seven Springs in Kirkus, Brevity, Jewish Chicago, Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, Jewish Boston, Boulder Jewish News and Rick Bailey’s blog. Watch the animated conversation with Miriam Bauer sponsored by the North Castle Public Library or the Facebook Live Author Talk with Jill Howe here.
