"Told against a contrasting backdrop of the present day, including the author's friendship with a young neighborhood girl, Bright Precious Thing unfolds with the same heart and narrative grace of Caldwell's earlier work. It is a book about finding, then protecting, what we cherish most."

I am very much looking forward to reading this book.

I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-20 from my title feedback view!

My thanks go to Net Galley and Random House for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now.
Gail Caldwell was the chief book reviewer for The Boston Globe, and she won the Pulitzer for Criticism. Once I began reading this luminous memoir, I could see that level of quality in her prose. She writes about her childhood in Texas, and about her travels and experiences growing up in the mid-twentieth century. More than anything, this is a feminist memoir, a chance to see how far we have come through a personal lens.

I missed the publication day here, and so I hunted down the audio version to supplement my reading. The author narrates her own work, and so it conveys the feeling that I am sitting by the fire with a dear friend, hearing about the challenges she’s faced as a single woman. Female readers will recognize the sensation: you start talking with a woman that you don’t really know, and before you know it you are talking and listening as if you’ve known one another for ages. That’s the essence of this book. In fact, I listened to it in the evening while preparing dinner, because I knew I’d be left alone during that time, and frankly, I didn’t want anybody to come barreling into the middle of my time with Gail. There’s a sense of intimacy that makes me feel a bit protective when I listen to it. Later, I go over what I’ve read and nod. Yes. Oh, yes, I remember that.

The title works in a number of ways. The darling little neighbor girl that becomes part of the family Gail chooses, bookends the memoir, coming in at the start as a very young person and ending it as an adolescent. But there’s more to it than that; life is a bright precious thing, and though she never says it overtly, I recognize that each woman is a bright precious thing as well.

I am a grandmother myself, but Gail is about the age to be my older sister. Women like Gail gave women like me a guiding light during our coming-of-age years. Our mothers were often resigned to their status as second class citizens, and ready to accept that there were things that women should probably not even try to do, and they couldn’t help transmitting their fears and reticence to us. It is women like Marge Piercy, Gloria Steinem, Wilma Mankiller, and yes, Gail Caldwell that provided us with a beacon, a way forward through the ocean of “no” to the bright shores of “yes,” that gave us courage to be insistent, even when we knew some would label us pushy broads, or worse. We needed role models badly, and they stepped up. They’re still doing it.

The calm, warm tone that came through this audio book, right during the turbulent period after the November election, was an absolute balm. Sometimes I would be shaken by the things I saw in the national news, and then I would head for my kitchen (perhaps an ironic place to receive a feminist memoir, but it worked for me,) and once I had had my time with Gail, I knew I’d be all right.

Highly recommended to women, and to those that love us.

I was so thrilled to see another Caldwell memoir - Let's Take the Long Way Home is such a beautiful book about adult female friendship - I always suggest it as a gift idea. This offered a historical background into how she developed into the writer and thinker that she is. I remain completely enamored of her writing style - detailed but not flowery, evocative without excess. This book will not be a great fit for all, as it details her evolution as a feminist and isn't as 'neutral' as her previous books that cover friendship, addiction, and dogs (not necessarily in that order). Also, this does have a patchwork feel to it that doesn't feel as congruous as a memoir should be. Still, the quality of the writing and the breadth of the author's experiences are well worth taking the plunge. Looking forward to what she writes next.

Caldwell has lived a good long life, with friends and dogs who have helped her grow into the strong, self-fulfilled person she is today. Her life experiences are interesting, her close bonds with her dogs are strong, and her developing friendship with a neighbor's 7-year-old daughter is both heart-warming and poignant as she watches her young friend grow up right before her eyes.

Such beautiful writing! I certainly enjoyed Caldwell’s story of her evolution from a 1960’s Texas teenager to a self- proclaimed feminist activist. Her journey through risk-taking, painful relationships, loneliness and finally self-acceptance becomes magical through her words.

Gail Caldwell has such a way with words. This book takes the typical and not so typical joys and heartbreaks of life and writes a book that you lose yourself into! It is hard to top her book, "Let's Take the Long Way Home", but this is an extremely close second.

"The traditional paths of marriage and motherhood seemed lethal in a whole other way. The women's movement delivered me from both fates. It offered a scaffolding of sanity and self-respect, a way to get a grip on everything that was scary about life." - Gail Caldwell

This the third memoir I read from Gail Caldwell and it's my favourite.
It could be the times we live in and the fact that she talks about her life from the Women's Movement to the #metoo movement, but I think it's also because she leaves us with a sense that we are going to be ok.

What I like about Caldwell's memoirs is that she doesn't try to stuff everything into a 400 or 500 page tell all. She gives you the important stuff, the stories, emotions and relationships that are relevant which leaves the reader with a nice smooth read.

If you've read other Caldwell memoirs you will already know about her love of rowing, dogs, and some of her past relationships. In this memoir however she gives us a glimpse into her relationship with Tyler who is a 5 year old girl that lives next door. I love how she uses this relationship to show the strength, imagination, and confidence of young girls today, contrasting that with a time not so long ago.

Gail Caldwell once again is not afraid of being vulnerable. She shares her struggles with relationships, alcoholism and some choices she made as a young woman. She also shares what she learned from those experiences and some of her successes too. Her reflections back on her younger self help us all to be wiser.

This is a timely and enjoyable read.

Bookworm Rating: 🐛🐛🐛🐛🐛

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an e-arc for an honest review.

Reviewed for BookPage.com, July 2020: At a Cambridge, Massachusetts, bookstore several years ago, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Gail Caldwell paused her reading to say, “There’s a lot of heart and soul in this room, and I would like to share the evening with you.” Sitting with her memoir Bright Precious Thing feels like an invitation into her own heart and soul. With a breath-catching, lyrical grace, yet enough focus to avoid sentiment, Caldwell lays down the path her life has taken. She credits the women’s movement with inspiring her evolution from rebellious Texan teenager to acclaimed Boston Globe critic. The friends and lovers she spent time with along the way are vividly here as well, for better and for worse. Date rape, an abortion and a long love affair with alcohol run right alongside the things that have sustained and inspired her.

What makes Caldwell’s memoir so much more than a skillful retelling is the way she balances her long past with visits from her present-day neighbor’s child, Tyler. When they meet, the 5-year-old falls in love with Caldwell’s beloved Samoyed dog, Tula. Over the years, that love comes to encapsulate all three of them—the writer helping along the little girl’s imagination, Tyler flashing the fearless self-awareness she seems to have been born with, and Tula blessing them both with her steadfast company. Caldwell calls it “a mutual learning society.” The child reminds Caldwell of “the innocence of forward motion,” and she tries to give Tyler “a palette for all that hope.”

For Caldwell, that palette got its beginnings in the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s, which “delivered” her from the “traditional paths” of marriage and motherhood. Diving into the past, alternating with sprints into the present, she observes herself as a writer, swimmer, rower, dog lover and friend. She can see the totality of her experiences from her perch much better as she nears 70, and they compose a “bright, precious thing . . . my life.”

Even though the author and I are in the same age range, we couldn't be more different and I absolutely could not identify with her. I was sorry to see the same old political ranting that I already see too much of on tv and in the news so it wasn't an enjoyable read to say the least. But I did slog my way through it and I'm sure there will be plenty of people who have a totally different opinion than I do.

This is an insightful examination of the experience of being a white woman during the progression of Second Wave Feminism, drug addiction, being addicted to dangerous men and codependency. All of the above. This was a good read.

Wow.

I spent an hour reading the last three chapters of this book this morning. And bawling my head off. Wow. Just wow.
I had read her previous book "Let's Take the Long Way Home" and was completely moved by that book [and her writing] as well. It was the reason I requested this book; I remembered just how much I had loved that first reading of the author's writing. And this book did not disappoint - it was so good from the minute it started until the minute it ended [with me wiping all the tears and gunk off my face from bawling].

This book is about Ms. Caldwell's teen/young adult years to now. And it is filled with stories, warnings, revelations, relationships and what makes family [even when that family isn't biological]. It is about the love of best friends [and what happens when they die], and it is about the love of a good dog [or two or three] and how you try and survive when they too die and leave you alone. And how being alone [not married etc] is really, ultimately, okay.

I loved this book. I loved Gail's relationship with Tyler, how Tyler makes her think about things that she hasn't thought about in years. I love how they both love Tula the dog and how they both help each other without even realizing [at first] that they are doing that. I love Ms. Caldwell's stories of her life and how she doesn't sugarcoat the things that she has done, good and bad. And what she has learned from all those things. It was a delight to read, even when it wasn't.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: sexual assault, date rape, abortion, suicide, substance abuse, death

A beautifully written memoir. I was unfamiliar with Gail Caldwell before reading this book, but I really enjoyed getting to know her and her story. This book was pretty heavy, so you really have to be in a good mental space to get through it. I did struggle a bit when the chapters would jump between Gail's past and the present; it was sometimes difficult to remember which part of Gail's life I was reading about. I would recommend reading this one if you are remotely interested because it is a pretty quick read; I read it in one sitting, though I wouldn't necessarily suggest doing so due to the heavy content.

Bright Precious Thing is a lovely, ephemeral memoir on the nature of life and the beauty of grief. Gail Caldwell began in academia and is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic, but there is nothing dry or coldly analytical about this book. Instead, she breathes a slice of her life onto the page, weaving together stories of strong, unforgettable friendships -- for which she has a gift. She paints a nuanced portrait of her life as an unpartnered older woman navigating life's loss, grief, growth, and rebirth and leaves the reader, at least this one, in tears but reminded of life as a bright precious thing. BPT is a memoir, not a self-help book, but through her story, Caldwell reminds us to do our best to focus forward even as we cherish the memories of the precious friends we've outlived. And if you are. a dog parent, you will see yourself in Caldwell's experience of loving her pups for their entire lives, even though her, our, life goes on. A true gem.

I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review. Full disclosure: I was not familiar with Gail Caldwell before I read this memoir. However, I did enjoy her reflections on coming of age in the second wave of feminism in the 70s, her experiences as a woman in the workforce and the way getting to know her neighbour caused her to reflect on all those things. It was a good read for me, just not an extraordinary one. 3 stars!

Gail Caldwell is a new author to me. NetGalley provided the opportunity to read this enchanting memoir.

The author shares her travels from girlhood in a small Texas town to womanhood in more urban settings, letting us catch a glimpse of people,places and pets that helped shape her along the way. Ms. Caldwell’s writing style is inclusive, you feel as though you are on the journey with her. Although a decade separates us, there are shared experiences that are timeless.
I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Tyler, the young neighbor girl. As a little girl if you were lucky enough to have a Gail in your life, consider yourself blessed.

As much progress as we have made, the Me Too movement has made it clear there is so much more to be done.

I am now adding her previous works to my reading list.

A memoir about friends and dogs is heartwarming and Caldwell' s prose resonates. Her account of harassment, following and joining the me too movement had me taking stock of my own past. Her exchanges with the little seven year old girl next door are my favorite as she shares the confident wisdom and innocence of youth. Her love of dogs is genuine and contagious. I have followed her memoirs and this one is a quiet favorite.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

A feminist's candid memoir from her childhood through the pains and joys of becoming a woman, a feminist, a lover, an author, a journalist, a dog owner/keeper, and more. I read and enjoyed her earlier book Let's Take the Long Way home, and this book met, even exceeded my expectations. The author has a way of expressing her experiences and feelings that makes them believable and, even at times, makes one think, "Yes, that's how I felt when...."

I adore Gail Caldwell's writing, and this book is one of her best. She personalizes the experience of growing up female in America brilliantly, sharing scenes from her own life interspersed with observations about a little girl in her neighborhood who comes to spend time with her afternoons after school. I appreciated how thoughtful Caldwell was as she reflected on her own life. I've never seen anyone so carefully avoid cliches and easy summary statements. I understood each time and place she described in her scenes like I was there myself. Such a great immersive experiences. I loved how she let the stories speak for themselves. She's not polarizing - she lets what happened stand on it's own, for the reader to think about. Just the best sort of writing that is so sophisticated that it's easily accessible to all. And her love for her dogs? It's the best.

The one thing I wished for, as I turned the last few pages was that she'd shared more about her perspective on faith. She states clearly that she's an atheist - that she does not believe in some great heaven in the sky. But her writing is very much exploring the experience of death - of people and animals (and even places and circumstances) that were precious. I would have loved to have read her account of how she reached the conclusions she has about God/spirituality/the possibility of something beyond this life. And how she continues to hope in the face of all that loss with out the encouragement of something beyond what we experience here. Hoping that's her next book :)

I received a Readers Advance Copy with the understanding I'd provide an honest review. I honestly have loved all of Caldwell's memoirs and was excited to learn of this newest one. Bright Precious Thing meets all expectations. I relate to her stories because she is of my generation and we share the same history of the women's movement and coming of age in the late 1960s. Early in the book, I realized that young women today need to hear our stories, too. We're part of a generation that fought hard for equal rights for all human beings. While discouraged about the setbacks, women, people of color, and people across the gender spectrum made progress once. There's no reason to assume we can't turn things around and do it again. Caldwell writes, "Still, the anger and momentum of the past few years have give me hope, too. That we haven't forgotten the lessons of history, and that we remembered how to fight." I'm 70 and hope I live long enough to see it. If I hadn't read her earlier memoirs, this book would have me adding them all to my To Be Read list. Thank you, Gail, for hope. All of her memoirs deal in one way or another with female friendship, her beloved Samoyeds, loss, depression, and addiction