This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Ms. Lawson was born in Detroit, Michigan, however at the age of four, she was sent to tiny Livingston, Alabama to be raised by her Grandmother Lula Horn (1883-1986).
After graduating from High School, Ms. Lawson joined the United States Air Force as A WAF (Women’s Air Force) and served as one of the first female B-52 mechanics. She served one tour in the Air Force and left the service in 1979. She used her military educational benefits to attend the University of Maryland, receiving a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Sociology and Social Work. She spent nearly twenty years working as a counselor for incarcerated youth, women who were victims of domestic violence, and with youth and adults suffering from alcohol/substance abuse. Following a seventeen year break; in 2002, Ms. Lawson returned to the military, retiring from the U.S Army in 2013.
Ms. Lawson is Author of the memoir Quilt of Souls, a book that is taking social media by storm. She is married with two sons and five Granddaughters and currently resides in Florida.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
Quilt of Souls is a memoir written by Phyllis Lawson. The author was just four years old when she was sent to live with her grandparents in Livingston, Alabama. She had no idea what was happening. One minute, her older sister was attempting to put the ribbons she always despised in her hair; the next, she was in the back seat of a car with two huge men sitting on either side of her and more strange adults in the front seat. It was a long trip from Detroit, where she had always lived, and the trip seemed to go on forever. When they finally got to Livingston, they turned onto a dirt road that went on and on, and stopped in front of a farm house. Lawson stepped out onto the soft Alabama sand and wondered where she was -- then her grandmother Lula came out and looked at her with those gray-blue eyes, and gave her a hug, and somehow she knew it was all going to be all right.
I cannot recommend Phyllis Lawson’s memoir, Quilt of Souls, highly enough. This beautifully written story is one of the most profound and memorable literary works that I've had the privilege of reading in an awfully long time. I loved hearing Grandma Lula’s stories as she and her granddaughter worked on the quilts, and marvelled at the idyllic life the three of them had for those wonderful and formative years while Lawson was being raised by her grandparents. The stories -- oh, the stories -- they are simply marvelous! And not just those momentous stories of departed family and friends told by Grandma Lula to her granddaughter as she lovingly fingers pieces of fabric, which are, in themselves, living history and oh, so very precious. But also those told by the author herself -- stories that are threaded so neatly in along with her grandmother’s historical tapestry. Those tales of her listening in on her grandmother, Miss Honey Bee and the other formidable women of their circle, her remembrances of her grandma walking her to school in the mornings, and the laughter and trips into town she shared with her Grandpa Edgar are all marvelous.
Lawson calls her grandmother a gifted storyteller and, indeed, this work proves that the gift has been passed on and still thrives. What a memorable read this is! Quilt of Souls had me entranced as I read. I forgot the everyday world and lived for a while on that farm surrounded by woods and in the company of some unforgettable people. This moving and very impressive memoir is most highly recommended.
