Reviewed by Lee Ashford for Readers' Favorite

Edited by Dena Clayton, the “Love Revealed” stories are collections of essays with a common theme. This particular volume features parent-child memories. A previous volume featured mother-daughter memories. Perhaps by design, perhaps by serendipity, all the stories in this collection also happen to be written by, and for, mothers and daughters. The women who penned these essays are writers by vocation or avocation. They also are real people, writing about real feelings and real circumstances. Some of these are happy essays. Others are not so happy. Still others are out-and-out cries of grief and loss. The editor has done a superb job of collecting meaningful, well-written essays, for the express purpose of “bringing truth, hope, wisdom, and love to the pages of this book.”

As a man, I was not sure what to expect when I realized what I was holding in my hands. I had selected this book to review, in the belief that it was a collection of short stories – fiction. But I had resolved to read and review it, so I began. Before very long I noticed my chest tightening, while a lump grew in my throat. Numerous times my eyes began to water, as my breath came in hitches. To say I was drowning in empathy would not be misleading. I may be risking a whole pile of “man points” here, but this collection made me want to sit down and write love letters to my children. The blog from which this series grew consists primarily of women members, and these essays were all written by women. But I challenge everybody – men included – to pick up this volume and immerse yourselves in somebody else’s story for a time, if you’re man enough. If this book teaches you nothing else, it will teach you that everybody has a story, that everybody’s life IS a story. I have no choice but to recommend this as required reading for basically anybody who is old enough to read.