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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Jennifer Gordon

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, this was an emotional read made even more poignant by the fact that it is written by the author, Cynthia who is Ruth’s daughter. Part memoir and part fictionalised biography, ‘Finding Ruth’ tells the story of Ruth’s life. Ruth was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and so was unable to provide any insight into her life before she became ‘Mom’, and so the author literally turned detective to discover what her mothers life had been like before, as Cynthia says, “Alzheimer’s stole her memories”.
The author begins the book by explaining how she came to write this novel and it was all down to the discovery of the eye catching photograph of Ruth taken in 1949 which is on the front cover of the book. The author had never seen this photo before and it only came to light as she was going through her mother’s possessions prior to her moving into a skilled nursing facility. This beautiful photo of a very glamorous looking young Ruth got her daughter thinking how little she knew of her mother’s life and being an author she did was she does best and put pen to paper to fill in the missing memories. The photograph had me intrigued before I had even opened the book and then once I began reading Ruth and Cynthia’s story I was hooked from beginning to the very last page.
You can tell how much research has gone into this book, in reconstructing her mother’s life the author looked at photos, letters, public records and firsthand memories but you can also feel how much love and emotion has gone into this original and unique story. Ruth’s life reads as a novel, having dealt with ill fated relationships, heartbreak and also high points in her life. Remembering that the main character, Ruth, is actually a real person just makes the story all that more remarkable as is the women herself. As her daughter writes, Ruth always stayed strong and survived what ever life through at her even Alzheimer’s. The book covers sixty years of a life well lived and not only is it a wonderful story and a fitting memoir but both the reader and the author gain a much better understanding of Ruth herself.
This is a heartwarming read and I recommend you have a box of tissues handy, but it is also inspirational and empowering and I can not recommend it highly enough.

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Caralee Loonat

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton
4 Stars!!!!

I really found that I went through a roller coaster of emotions reading this book. I think that the author did a wonderful job of dealing with a very sensitive subject. There are many families out in the world that I am sure are dealing with different stages of this very scenario.

I found that I really got grabbed by this book and although not in my regular favourite genre really enjoyed it. The emotions that it brings to the surface really tug at your heartstrings. Alzheimers is a very viscous disease and this book really portrays how difficult and uncertain things can be when dealing with a relative with this illness. I like how the author was able to navigate the twists and turns that can be dealt with. I would definitely read more from this author in the future.
Reviewed by @caraleeloonat
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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Heather Harmon

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! What a great job Cynthia Hamilton has done with her mother’s story! I was glued to the pages and I could feel the emotions in her words as I read. Alzheimer’s is a very difficult disease to watch someone you love struggle with this there are no words. I commend Cynthia Hamilton for doing research and piecing together her mother’s story I truly hope it helped her during her time of dealing with an emotional roller coaster.

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Piper Foster

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finding Ruth is heartfelt story it is very engaging but can take time to get into. Ruth is a very strong woman and very independent. Very well written biography after witnesding many of her mother hardships of Ruth’s life. Her mother developed a disease later and this then changes her behaviors

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Lianne Probert

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Finding Ruth is a very different book than I’m used to from Cynthia Hamilton. Cynthia delves into her mother’s past to discover the memories that Alzheimer’s has blurred, altered and in some cases removed completely.

Ruth’s story is a rollercoaster ride spanning over sixty years. The emotions bounce off the page through Cynthia’s writing and you want nothing more than for Ruth’s story to be a happy one.
I found myself hooked, needing to know what happened next, so I can only imagine what this must have been like for the author to have been piecing together pictures and clues and memories to try and discover who her mother really was.
The outcome of this is an emotional memoir about a real woman who made some difficult choices throughout her life.
If you enjoy memoirs or non fiction stories then I would recommend this.

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Lucy Berson

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an emotional book for me. It was a very heartfelt and emotional story. This could not have been an easy story to write but I appreciate and applaud Ms. Hamilton for allowing us all into her most precious work. Writing about family can be emotional to begin with but when it is about your mother that takes it to another level of personal. Ms. Hamilton takes us on the journey that she and her mother went on with horrible dementia. You can not help but get emotional while reading and you will have tears. Thank you for allowing us into your life!!!

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Chantelle Smith

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cynthia Hamilton has once again transported us into another world with this read. I love following her crime thriller reads and this read just shows us another level of this author’s writing. This read was real, raw and totally heartfelt, heart-wrenching and heart-warming read all at the same time. This book showed the relationship and bond between mother and daughters, the ups and downs and the journeys they take. To know this read is based on this author’s own mother, it really makes you connect on a deeper level with the thoughts and feelings that are throughout this book. I loved following the journey our main character takes finding out all the ups and downs, trials and tribulations that her mother goes through in her lifetime. This read will hit you and take you on a never-ending emotional rollercoaster. I’m so glad I picked up this read, and can’t wait to read more from this author!

Reviewed By @tillytillzz

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Kerry Carr

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was an amazing and emotional read. It was heartbreaking and inspiring reading Ruths story. It follows the story of Ruth who has always been a independent and strong women.

As she gets older and suffering from Alzheimer’s she finds life getting harder.
Her daughter Cynthia supports her and doesn’t want to put her mum into a home. Upon searching through some old photographs they bring up question about Ruth in her younger years.

Cynthia wants to know who her mum actually is. The person she was and the things that happened in her life to make her the person Cynthia knows and loves. With Ruth memory failing Cynthia needs to dig through her memories and keepsakes to discover her mums past.

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Meg Tyrrell

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love Cynthia Hamilton. This book was so unlike anything I’ve read from her, I wasn’t sure how I would feel. The raw emotion portrayed in this book was heartwarming. It made for a fantastic read. I loved learning how a writer can go from one genre to another without any transition. It was flawless just as her other books are. This is a phenomenal story that is mostly factual but written as fiction as the way she writes. I can not wait for another book from Cynthia Hamilton- bring. It on.

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Faith Jackson

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book served as a love letter to the author’s mother’s life and it’s so beautifully written as she makes her mother human. A human and mother I could relate to. As a nurse, we know how the disease affects others but not quite sure how a person’s life was until we look into their life stories and this book paints a vivid picture Ruth left behind. I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to take a trip back in time, especially women who want to know how to overcome so much while balancing being mothers and in relationships. Great read!

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton – Review by Amanda Kimble

Finding RuthFinding Ruth by Cynthia Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5/5 Stars

Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton

This is the first book I’ve read by the author and I’ve got to say that I really enjoyed this. This won’t be the last book I’ll read by Hamilton.

This follows Cindy in her mom’s journey. She goes through her mother’s things to find who her mom was in the past. This hit close to home as a family member went down the same path Ruth did.

Ruth can no longer remember anything of who she once was. Finding herself over the years has stopped as she depends on her kids. Her past is no longer there and there are days she doesn’t know who she is. The quote I choose for Ruth is: “Do you see those trees right there? Would you believe, every day when I walked to school, I’d walk right by those trees…and here they are!”

I do highly recommend this for anyone who loves an emotional read.

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Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton

 ~  ~  ~  ~ BOOK SPOTLIGHT SHOWCASE~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Finding Ruth: A Daughter’s Quest to Discover Her Mother’s Past by Cynthia Hamilton

BUY NOW – https://amzn.to/33wdPOX

#Alzheimers #Momoir #ADaughtersQuest #FindingRuth

Hosted by Itsy Bitsy Book Bits

Genre – Biography, Memoir, Fictionalized biography

Page Count – 255 Pages

Cover Designer – Six Penny Graphics

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32055542-finding-ruth

As fiercely independent Ruth struggles to stay self-reliant at the age of 86, each day brings her closer to an event that will alter her life forever. While her author daughter shifts through Ruth’s possessions prior to her move into a skilled nursing facility, she discovers a previously unseen photo from 1949 and realizes how little she knows of her mother’s life.

As Alzheimer’s continues to warp Ruth’s once sharp mind, she can no longer shed any light on the past. Yearning to know who her mother was as a person in her own right, the author painstakingly reconstructs Ruth’s life from photos, letters, public records and firsthand memories.

What emerges is a portrait of a bright, beautiful woman who is propelled through decades of broken promises and heartache, bouncing from one ill-fated relationship to the next, but always staying strong, always surviving. Through a timeline going back sixty years, the author gleans a much better understanding of the woman she had known only as Mom.

~ AMAZON ~

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Though I was always an ardent reader, I was convinced I couldn’t string sentences together if my life depended on it. Fortunately for me, when I was looking for something creative I could do from bed—if my mystery illness progressed to that point—I decided to try my hand at it. No pressure, no expectations. I didn’t tell anyone what I was up to. I just wanted to see if I could string sentences together and tell an interesting story.

 

I remembered a quote by Hemingway, “Write about what you know.” With this mandate, I chose the time spent living with my husband in the French Quarter of New Orleans as the backdrop for my story. I typed out my first two paragraphs on my forty-third birthday. I finished that book on my next birthday, and started my second the same day. I now consider those my “practice books”.

 

As my still-nameless illness progressed, I continued running the family business and continued to write. Nine years after my symptoms began, I finally received a correct diagnosis: Lyme disease, and more specifically, late-stage Lyme, because it had been allowed to progress untreated for so long.

 

Though the pain was almost unendurable, I clung to my writing like a life preserver. It allowed me to crawl up inside my head, out of my body, giving me brief respites from the vast array of pains.

 

Though I would never wish this disease on anyone, I can honestly say I am grateful for the path my life took, for it gave me the gift of writing. I now have nine published books, all of which have special significance for me. I write general fiction, mysteries and some nonfiction.

 

Once Upon a Lyme: The Tale of Two Journeys, is the detailed account of the path my mystery illness led me down as I sought help from over two-dozen doctors, and the gift of writing that was the unexpected upside of being so hopeless ill.

 

Finding Ruth was inspired by a previously unseen photograph of my mother taken when she was nineteen. I found it as I was going through her things prior to her move into a skilled nursing hospital. That gorgeous photograph of her looking so happy and full of promise made me realize how little I knew about her life before I came along. Because Alzheimer’s has taken away all her memories, I painstakingly reconstructed her life from public records, thousands of photographs, and what my brother, sister and I could remember. The message in the tribute to my mom is Ask while you have the chance.

 

As of this writing, I have just completed the fourth book in the Madeline Dawkins mystery series. I’m still in love with writing and I still squeal with joy to think that I’ve written eleven books and self-published nine of them. If there is a message in this, it’s Never discount what you are capable of achieving.

Author Interview With Cynthia Hamilton

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