Willow in a Storm

Small Press Bookwatch, May, 2008

Willow in a Storm

James Peter Taylor & Kathleen Murphy-Taylor

Scarletta Press

10 South Fifth Street, Suite 1105, Minneapolis, MN 55402

9780976520153, $14.95, www.scarlettapress.com

Once in awhile, the rehabilitation system does work--but never without cost. "Willow in a Storm" is the story of James Peter Taylor in it's entirety. A man whose life started off well enough, once a star sports star as a child his life quickly fell into turmoil as a psychological backlash against his childhood abuse. His life spirals into an unintentional murder of a banker, which lands him in prison for forty years--a life sentence where he was set to die there. And he almost did, twice, one of those attempts leaving him blind. Somehow, he survives, finds inspiration, and makes a better person of himself. He's paroled, and now reveals his life story and all the turbulence and triumph that spilled from it. "Willow in a Storm" is a conflicting yet enthralling life story from the first page to the last, and is highly recommended for community library memoir shelves.