AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON
A compelling coming of age memoir-in-essays about navigating love, loss, long-term marriage, aging and how a self gets created over time.
Driven by grief into early promiscuity at the tender age of twelve by her father’s untimely death, Nancy London takes us into dim Greenwich Village bars with a fake ID, into the back seats of cars with older men, late night concerts at the Apollo theater in Harlem, and eventually on a transformative journey to the mountains of Oaxaca where a steady diet of psilocybin mushrooms sets her on her path seeking a teacher of love. She enters a clandestine sexual relationship with a New Age guru, but when her teacher becomes abusive, it takes a solo 48 hour full- moon LSD journey on a tropical island to reclaim her power and heal from the grief of losing a parent as a young girl.
Nancy marries her patient suitor, writes candidly about the wild delights of becoming a first-time mother at 44, and what it takes to sustain the tender intimacy of a long-term marriage. She chronicles the struggle to release her daughter as she grows into a young adult, and eventually of finding new rhythms and purpose later in life. Her writing on aging gracefully in a youth-centric culture will strike a chord of recognition with women of every age.
With intellect and emotion, honesty and dark humor, prose that is equal parts rock-and-roll and orchestral symphony, this book seamlessly weaves together the sacred and the mundane, the wisdom of our ancestors, and all the ways we find to heal and forgive, The Ripening is a companion, a place of refuge and renewal, a message on the winds and tides encouraging us to crack open our hearts to the sorrow and joy of the world and feast at the table of love.
“These stories are the salve for our wounds. With grace, compassion and an abundance of love, they offer a roadmap home to our own hearts and messy lives.” Laura Lentz, author of STORYquest: the Writer, the Hero the Journey, and Freeing the Turkeys
“From Nancy London’s opening invocation to The Ripening’s final riveting page, this spare, eloquent, living prayer grabbed my heart, fed my soul, and never let me go.” Laura Davis, author of The Courage to Heal and The Burning Light of Two Stars
“Nancy London leaves you feeling like you’ve just spent hours talking with your very best friend.” David Colin Carr, author of Melting into Sweetness
“Beautiful writing. Profound wisdom. Brava for your wild, healing, heart. Marilyn S.
Here’s the link:
Nancy London 