Little Chapel on the River

Subtitle: A pub, a town and the search for what matters most

Author: Gwendolyn (Wendy) Bounds

Sub Genre: Major life shift, community, memoir of the place

How many pages: 278

What does it say about itself: "Forced from her downtown Manhattan apartment by the terrorist attack of September 11, journalist Wendy Bounds was delivered to Guinan's doorstep - a legendary Irish drinking hole and country store nestled along the banks of the Hudson River in the small town of Garrison, New York - by a friend.
Captivated by the bar's charismatic but ailing owner and his charming motley clientele, Bounds uprooted herself permanently and moved to tiny Garrison, the picturesque river town they all call home. There she became one of the rare female regulars at the old pub and quickly swept up into its rhythm, heartbeat, and grand history - as related by Jim Guinan himself, the stubborn high priest of this little chapel. Surrounded by a crew of endearing, delightfully colorful characters who were now her neighbors and friends, she slowly finds her own way home.
Beautifully written, deeply personal, and brilliantly insightful, Little Chapel on the River is a love story about a place - and the people who bring it to life."

My Thoughts: I have this tendency to buy books and not read them, they just languish in obscurity to my mind on shelves, taunting me and filling me with shame every time I see them. I thought this book was going to be one of those. I'm really glad it wasn't. There is something dubious about a book blurb stating something is "beautifully written" or something similar, one expects them to by lying. In this case the blurb does not lie. Bounds is a writer/editor at the Wall street Journal, a job which lends credibility to the quality of the writing. Because Bounds has spent most of her professional life recording and reporting her surroundings the observations found in this book are pointed and poignant. This is an interesting account of a time frame that is arguably the most news worthy of many of our lives. Bounds and her partner's proximity to those events of September 2001 add an interesting layer to this retelling. I found myself feeling really close to all the people in this story and the author. One reason I read is to add color to the black and white map of the world that is in my mind, to have accounts of small places in deep detail makes me feel like if I were to travel to these places I would be able to find my way around and feel comfortable in this foreign place. All in all this memoir brought up a whole lot of interesting character study and introspection about the relationship between the self and their community. I really enjoyed this one.

Another thing I love about contemporary memoirs is that in many cases the story doesn't end in the book and the author is still willing to share. You can generally find blogs by the author or websites giving more information on the subject. This book led me to Wendy Bounds' blog (featuring videos from the WSJ of her product testing tools for the home) and a blog about the chapel in general. I will let you find them yourself (just a quick google search will do the trick) but be warned that some spoilers can be easily found on these websites, or information which may change your perception of the book (which could be good or bad, you decide)

Grades: (All scores out of 5)
Quality of writing: 5 (WSJ should be proud)
Entertaining: 4
Compelling: 5
Total: 14/15 - 93% - A