DEAR FRIEND, FROM MY LIFE I WRITE TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE

Despite her best efforts, the youthfully vibrant quality of Jennifer Ikeda's narration is not an ideal match for this mature and complex material. In her powerfully intimate first work of nonfiction, Chinese-American author Yiyun Li reveals the difficulties of living with suicidal depressive tendencies and, in particular, her strong conviction that the struggles she and others face are more a matter of coping with oppressive feelings than of will. During her two hospitalizations, she found solace in the letters and journals of writers--including Katherine Mansfield, Ivan Turgenev, and Marianne Moore--and her thoughts on the writing life will be illuminating to serious listeners. Ikeda's lilting vocal inflections and musical tonality suggest a degree of cheer that is not evident in this contemplative work. M.J. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2019]