6 days ago August 12, 2026joynealkidney

Highly recommended for its uplifting outlook!

What a welcome and uplifting review by Elizabeth Gauffreau: 

Joy Neal Kidney’s latest book, The Immigrant and the Outlaw, is a book about making and maintaining connections—to the natural world; to our family members and ancestors; to our memories of lived experience and our history; to our country and community; to people in need. The experience of reading the book brought home to me just how important these connections are.

The collection is composed primarily of newspaper columns and magazine articles Kidney wrote in the 1990s as a burgeoning freelance writer. In the Introduction, she explains that she got her start as a writer in midlife because she wanted to share the story of her three young uncles who were killed in World War II. Throughout The Immigrant and the Outlaw a thread of appreciation for war veterans and those who gave their lives in war is clearly visible. I found the articles about the traditions of old-fashioned Decoration Day and current Memorial Day particularly poignant.

If I had been a subscriber to Kidney’s local paper, I would have looked for her columns. There is no guile or artifice in her writing. It is clear, direct, and sincere—just one woman from a small town sharing places, people, and memories that were important to her, in the hope they would strike a responsive chord with readers as well.

At key points in the book, a poem will highlight a particular moment in time within the larger sequence of prose vignettes. “That Fateful Sunday Dinner,” for example, vividly describes how “amiable background music” on the radio during a typical Sunday dinner after church was interrupted by the announcement that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. (145)

I particularly appreciated the collection’s ending with “Blessings of an Ordinary Tree.” This short essay describes how one ordinary maple tree in Kidney’s yard came to represent resilience and healing in her life. What better thought to leave a reader with than to “contemplate the blessings of one ordinary tree”? (203)

I found reading The Immigrant and the Outlaw an uplifting experience for the values that serve as its foundation: appreciation for the freedoms and advantages we have, hard work, caring for our families, and kindness to others, including strangers. I highly recommend it!

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What fun to find this selfie with the review!
Elizabeth Gaufreau

Elizabeth Gauffreau writes fiction and poetry with a strong connection to family and place. Her work has been widely published in literary magazines, as well as several themed anthologies. Her short story “Henrietta’s Saving Grace” was awarded the 2022 Ben Nyberg prize for fiction by Choeofpleirn Press.

Liz has published a novel, TELLING SONNY: THE STORY OF A GIRL WHO LOVED THE VAUDEVILLE SHOW, and two photopoetry collections: GRIEF SONGS: POEMS OF LOVE & REMEMBRANCE and SIMPLE PLEASURES:HAIKU FROM THE PLACE JUST RIGHT. Her second novel, THE WEIGHT OF SNOW AND REGRET, based on the closing of the last poor farm in Vermont in 1968, is her latest book. Please check them out on Amazon.

Liz’s professional background is in nontraditional higher education, including academic advising, classroom and online teaching, curriculum development, and program administration. She received the Granite State College Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2018.

Liz lives in Nottingham, New Hampshire with her husband.

Please have a look at her website.

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You don’t have to be an author to leave a review, or even just a rating. You can give a book how many stars you choose without writing anything. I’d love to read a line or two about which story you especially enjoyed.

How about it?

The Immigrant and the Outlaw is listed on BookBub, Goodreads, and Amazon.

19 comments

  1. What a fabulous review by Liz. I also loved Blessings of an Ordinary Tree, as well as many of the other stories in this collection.

    Reply

  6. I’m not surprised by Liz’s great review for two reasons. First, your book is terrific, and second, she is a talented writer and blogging supporter of many other authors. You should be proud of this review, Joy, because it came from Liz.

    Reply

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