Karen's Reviews > Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty

“I hope I’m alive to see the United States elect a female president. I hope I’m alive to see my daughter and grandchildren enjoy more rights than they were born with, not fewer.”

There is a lot to appreciate about Clinton’s life. Her ‘life’ resume for one. Even her political career. Also, her experience in fiction writing when she teamed up with Louise Penny to write, “State of Terror.” And, a lot of what we know of her can be found in previous books she has written.

So, my curiosity when this book came out was, what more does she have to share? What message does she want to provide to readers?

One of the things I like to do when I begin a novel is to see the author’s dedication and/or quotes that they put at the beginning of their books. In many ways, it can be a tell. And, her dedication to her grandchildren certainly seemed like one…

“…with love and hope for the future you and your generation deserve.”

Certainly, her subtitle is giving us a sense of Clinton’s desire to reach readers in a way that will gain our interest…

“Reflections on life, love, and liberty.”

And, the quote she chose to place at the beginning of this book is by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow from his book – “A Psalm of Life”…

“Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.”

So, what are these reflections she is choosing to share with us?

She certainly leaves us with a strong message about why Trump should not be re-elected. She is clear in her arguments about the danger he poses with another term.

But that isn’t her only reflection. She wants readers to know about the first ladies. She wants to share about her philosophies of aging. She wants us to know more about her daughter, Chelsea, and even about her marriage and relationship with husband, Bill. She wants to share about her passion projects like, universal day care and abortion law. There are 17 chapters of her sharing in which readers will get to know Clinton a little more personably – how she feels and thinks about issues that she deems relevant and contemporary that we, as readers, can relate to, as well.

Most moving is the poem she leaves for readers at the end, which is actually the last song from the musical play “Suffs” which earned 6 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. It speaks to the strength of women and what we must carry “forward into light.” (See quote below.)

For readers, this book is like having a fireside chat with someone who wants us to see the ‘real’ her. Only this time, she feels just a little bit more approachable than she may have appeared to us before.