Book Review: Seven Springs: A Memoir
Seven Springs: A Memoir. Ellen Blum Barish, Shanti Arts Publishing, April 27, 2021, Electronic and Print, 137 pages.
Review by Casie Gambrel.
Ellen Blum Barish's Seven Springs: A Memoir is a short, engaging story that will tug at your heartstrings. At age twelve, Ellen and her school friend were passengers in a horrific car accident on their way home from school. The accident's aftermath shattered their friendship and led to years of silence within the author's own family. At her twenty-year high school reunion, Ellen was reunited with her friend. Their conversation broke years of silence and unlocked snippets of buried memories from the past, propelling the author on a quest to understand the truth of what happened.
The book is an intimate portrait of Ellen's childhood and family dynamics from the protagonist's viewpoint as an adult. The author follows her journalistic instinct to seek many unanswered questions that life has thrown her way. The compassionate prose accompanies the reader as Ellen carries the weight of the traumatic experience and realizes the impact it has had on her life. She shines a light on her own journey as she makes sense of confusion, self-doubt, belonging, and family secrets.
As Ellen pieces her story together, she finds the courage to unlock repressed memories and finally understand a gnawing feeling that will not go away. Ellen confronts her parents and faces her childhood friends with questions about the accident and its aftermath through her discovery process. Along the way, Ellen must ask for forgiveness and mend bridges for decisions others made on her behalf, unbeknownst to her.
The author masterfully alternates between her roles of observer and main character, objective investigator, and subject of her research. The perseverance in her discovery process sends the reader down fascinating rabbit holes that expose open wounds in Ellen's relationships with her parents and childhood friend. By the end of her journey, Ellen has come to accept what happened, make peace with her past, and understand how this experience has shaped her as an adult.
The book opens with a lesson on Tikkun Olam: the Jewish belief in our duty to restore the world. In a way, that is what this book is about. The author's world order has been disrupted in ways she didn't know or expect, and she goes on a quest to restore it. And, as she pieces her story together, Ellen's Jewish roots beckon on her. Although she grew up in a non-practicing household, Ellen's pull towards Judaism provides her with powerful clues and symbols that undeniably aid her discovery. Ultimately, her journalistic process around the accident and its aftermath is also a process of identity building as she reconnects with her Jewish faith.
Seven Springs is an insightful journey of courage, truth, and faith written from the heart. There are relatable life lessons for everyone. You cannot help but feel a kinship and connection with the author after reading her beautiful story.