Loveyoubye by Rossandra White
When Rossandra White walks into her Laguna Beach home one day to find that her husband of twenty-five years has disappeared - leaving behind only a cryptic, hastily written note on the kitchen counter as an explanation - she knows he'll come back. It's not the first time this has happened, and she trusts that their marriage, though tumultuous, will endure. But she soon learns that this time is different - and as new information comes to light, she realizes that the cracks in their relationship may have deepened past the point of repair. In the midst of this turmoil, White's physically and mentally disabled younger brother needs her help. She returns to South Africa, land of her birth, to answer his call - and when she comes back to California, she finds that her dog Sweetpea, who for years has served as a vital emotional link between herself and her husband, has begun to succumb to a fatal illness. Ultimately, it is this core-rattling confluence of crises that forces White to face her own demons and make a decision: stay in a marriage that's crumbling before her eyes, or leave her husband and forge a new life for herself.
“. . a fascinating story about a childhood spent in an exotic land and a family life full of secrets.”
—Kirkus
“. . . a bold and powerful voice…something we could all learn a lesson from.”
—RedCity Review
“Rossandra White has written a captivating memoir that takes you from the jungles of Africa to the beaches of Southern California. Rossandra writes with heart and wisdom about being abandoned by her husband, dealing with unresolved issues from the past and her great love for her dog. An entertaining and ultimately uplifting book.”
—Anita Hughes, author of Monarch Beach, Market Street, and Lake Como
“The title Loveyoubye, captures in one word the dual themes woven with grace and agility throughout this magnificent memoir—the universal and often simultaneous experiences of love and loss. As Rossandra White gathers up the pieces of her life at the culmination of a tumultuous marriage, she travels, in real time and in memory, from her childhood in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia), to South Africa, to her adopted homeland in Southern California, and her portrayals of these journeys (and the loved ones she encounters along the way) are so clear-eyed, so perceptive and poetic, that we, the lucky reader, would happily accompany her anywhere in the world. And then there’s the dog, whose impact on the author will captivate and move you as much as any human relationship in this entertaining, profound, uplifting book.”
—Thomas White, author of Wisdom of Sons
“Maybe in the best of all possible worlds, all you need is love, but, as White reminds us in her very affecting memoir, reality is much more complicated. Any woman who has stayed in a marriage, or relationship, longer than she should have, will see herself in these pages. Anyone with half a heart will be touched by White’s guilt over a disabled brother left behind in South Africa when she came to America and whom she does her best to care for, long-distance. Then there’s the dog, Sweetpea, a Staffie, love at first sight for White. No surprise that a woman whose formative years were informed by a baboon named Archie, a Vervet monkey named Jo-Jo, and a tiny pop-eyed nocturnal creature named Little One (not to mention the Staffies she grew up with) would find solace in the loving devotion dogs give best. And with it, the courage to move on.”
—Deborah Batterman, Pushcart nominee and author of Shoes Hair Nails
—Kirkus
“. . . a bold and powerful voice…something we could all learn a lesson from.”
—RedCity Review
“Rossandra White has written a captivating memoir that takes you from the jungles of Africa to the beaches of Southern California. Rossandra writes with heart and wisdom about being abandoned by her husband, dealing with unresolved issues from the past and her great love for her dog. An entertaining and ultimately uplifting book.”
—Anita Hughes, author of Monarch Beach, Market Street, and Lake Como
“The title Loveyoubye, captures in one word the dual themes woven with grace and agility throughout this magnificent memoir—the universal and often simultaneous experiences of love and loss. As Rossandra White gathers up the pieces of her life at the culmination of a tumultuous marriage, she travels, in real time and in memory, from her childhood in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia), to South Africa, to her adopted homeland in Southern California, and her portrayals of these journeys (and the loved ones she encounters along the way) are so clear-eyed, so perceptive and poetic, that we, the lucky reader, would happily accompany her anywhere in the world. And then there’s the dog, whose impact on the author will captivate and move you as much as any human relationship in this entertaining, profound, uplifting book.”
—Thomas White, author of Wisdom of Sons
“Maybe in the best of all possible worlds, all you need is love, but, as White reminds us in her very affecting memoir, reality is much more complicated. Any woman who has stayed in a marriage, or relationship, longer than she should have, will see herself in these pages. Anyone with half a heart will be touched by White’s guilt over a disabled brother left behind in South Africa when she came to America and whom she does her best to care for, long-distance. Then there’s the dog, Sweetpea, a Staffie, love at first sight for White. No surprise that a woman whose formative years were informed by a baboon named Archie, a Vervet monkey named Jo-Jo, and a tiny pop-eyed nocturnal creature named Little One (not to mention the Staffies she grew up with) would find solace in the loving devotion dogs give best. And with it, the courage to move on.”
—Deborah Batterman, Pushcart nominee and author of Shoes Hair Nails
White, Rossandra: - Rossandra White, a fourth generation South African, was raised in Nkana, Zambia where she had a baboon for a pet, learned to tell a log from a crocodile, and whistle through her tongue. Family holidays were either down to South Africa to visit family, day trips across the border to the Congo, or trips up to east Africa. Enamored with everything American, she emigrated to the States at twenty-three. Eleven years later she moved to the canyon in Laguna Beach, where she and her husband at the time made pottery and sold their wares at the Sawdust and various festivals in Southern California. She started writing to quiet the voices from the past back home in Africa. The result: two young adult novels, Monkey's Wedding, and Mine Dances, about family, race, and the dark magic of a society poised on the brink of change. The Kindle for Monkey's Wedding was published by Kindle Press on January 31, 2017. The unraveling of her marriage, along with a crisis back home in Africa resulted in her memoir, Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go, and Then There's the Dog, published by SWP in 2014. She still lives in the canyon with her two Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Jake and Fergie, with whom she fights for space in her bed. When she's not writing, she's at the gym or hiking the hills behind her home in Laguna canyon.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781938314506 |
| ISBN 10 | 1938314506 |
| Title | Loveyoubye |
| Author | Rossandra White |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | She Writes Press |
| Year published | 2014-05-22 |
| Number of pages | 280 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |