JEWELS THAT SPEAK

by Lynn Burlingham

Overview

This moving memoir relates Lynn Burlingham's battle for her own identity as child, teen and adult amid the influence of her famous extended family: great-grandfathers Louis Comfort Tiffany and Charles Culp Burlingham; grandmother Dorothy Tiffany Burlingham; grandfather Einar Håkon Sørensen; uncle George F. Kennan; and Anna Freud, her grandmother's colleague, companion and confidant, and her father's psychiatrist.

"An engaging read and an enticing peek into the secret lives of two celebrated families." –Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162011521
Publisher:	Gatekeeper Press
Publication date:	05/04/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Lynn Burlingham was a finalist for the Delacorte Prize, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and was a 2014 Kansas Notable Book Award author. She has an MA from Columbia University’s Teachers College and has taught creative writing to junior high students, as well as developing and leading programs for gifted students. She grew up in New York and London and now lives in Lawrence, Kansas. Lynn is passionate about books, chocolate, nature, and writing.

“The Freuds, the Tiffanys, and Me,”
the opening chapter of Jewels That Speak,
was published in a slightly different form
in the winter 2012 issue of New Letters

“Nature’s Beauty Lingers” and “Uncle George” originally appeared
in The Great Plains Writers Group, Echoes from the Prairie (2013)

The Starlings in London, a novel, was published in 2016

Lynn's website is https://lynnburlingham.com/

Editorial Reviews

This is a deeply heartfelt memoir of life, love, family, marriage and conflict experienced amid the societal pressures and constraints of famous, larger-than-life personas--the Freuds and the Tiffanys who impinged on her life alternately like a vise and a multifaceted jewel. The author, Lynn Burlingham, tells the honest, often desperate, story of her joys, dashed hopes, betrayals and unmet expectations through love affairs, marriage, motherhood and divorce.

Reviews - Leonard Krishtalka

Perhaps because Lynn Burlingham's search for self so closely parallels my own, or perhaps because she has a poet's naturally discerning eye and ear, or perhaps because she is able to be downright honest about her inner turmoil and her family's conflicted but engaging chaos, but I found JEWELS THAT SPEAK to be mesmerizing to the point of being a "can't put it down" page turner.

Reviews - Laurie Jameson

"Jewels That Speak," a memoir by Lynn Burlingham, is a fascinating, emotional, and intellectual story conveyed through the eyes and thoughts of one who has grown up with a very unique perspective – from the dark side of the Freudian Influence to the comfort and spiritual strength offered by various gemstones, each holding a special meaning and significance within the author's life.

Reviews - Phil A.

Lynn Burlingham has migrated from writing a moving short novel (Starlings in London) to producing a captivating memoir (Jewels that Speak). In doing so, she has become more introspective, examining the ups and downs of her life with unusual honesty and insight. Hers is a story of a descendent of privilege who discovers that privilege is no protection from turmoil and from the mistakes made from impulsive choices. But it is also a story of recovery, of finding herself and a meaningful life.

Review - Dusty Greenfield

Jewels That Speak is a memoir of a woman who came from a background both privileged and painful as she tried to navigate her way through the shoals of everyday life... As members of her family became dysfunctional, Lynn questions whether the emotional aberrations on her father's side were genetic. And as she strives to shape own life long removed from privilege, she makes hasty decisions she regrets... a searingly honest story of the pursuit of love in a life fraught with painful transitions.

Review - Donna A.