A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik

One of the hardest parts of 2014 was learning to start all over again. I cannot get into why I am not working, suffice to say, it was a huge shock to stop doing what I loved doing best. Recovery is hard and as the year wore on I felt that reading and writing was the balm I needed to survive. Though it's never a complete fix, there is something about throwing oneself into a book  or grabbing a pen and paper when life hands you lemons. 

Forget making lemonade, I am not that kid of girl. I need an intellectual exercise. 

And besides,  I am a terror in the kitchen.

I felt so much loss.

So I read.

And wrote. And read some more. 

When we learn to pare down our lives, and paring down is an understatement, we look at the things we already have in another light. My worn out clogs that I wear every day became warmer and more comfortable, my sofa with it's sad springs enveloped me with more comfort than ever and my C.S. Lewis book (the small paperback that I had as a teen) The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe reassuringly looked up at me from my bag to remind me to keep my sense of wonderment in life as well as to remind me why I love to read. Little things became more magical and even though it's tough, I have something to hang onto during the worst of times.

When we feel loss we became the guardians of what we have left, for dear life. 

Memories. Photos, a bottle, a hat, gloves. 

A tube of Chapstick can be moisturizer for your whole face if needed. 

And this is where I lead into my small but large in heart review of A Marker to Measure Drift.

When I read A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander  Maksik. I cried. I will never forget that afternoon, the way the sunshine came in through the slats of the blinds while my daughter played on the floor, the way the house smelled of Christmas and the way I was nestled down into the couch, reading this gem.  I read the last of the book and cried.

Just cried.

This is a beautifully written story that seems to fall under my "Little Bee" theory of reviewing. You can't review it or you will completely give it away. And Little Bee is a whole other book from this one in context, I am only using that as a template of reviewing books that really can't be reviewed. Due to spoilers.

If you are a person who likes  books where the main character is all alone in his or her thoughts, stranded, or homeless and you do not know why she is where she is in such a way, then this is a book for you.  You will be mesmerized by the dichotomy of the languishing thoughts of  Jacqueline as opposed to her rushed survival moments of starvation and pain. I feel that Maksik wrote a book that not only deals with the torture and outcomes of extreme loss but a book about how people change after the loss. In such a way that sometimes, you have to go back and reread as you feel that he couldn't have possibly allowed the book to go that way. But he does and that's what I call "magic" in writing.

And he gives us survival at it's best. 

Jacqueline, a young woman from Liberia lives in a cave on a beautiful Greek Island. Her days are long, and she needs to find ways to make a few euros to eat daily.  She massages tourists feet  claiming to be someone other than a homeless person.  I felt every hunger pang she had. Every desire she had. Every single moment she felt, I felt. I will say this, a cup of coffee will forever be sipped  with the solemnity of God. You will understand when you read this.  

Jacqueline's internal dialogue with her mother unravels who she really is and where she came from. Most of all, what really happened in her past landing her on an island, alone. 

It's raw and it's beautiful. The other characters sans two seem to float in stories or thoughts, poignant, some painful. I reached the end. I felt that I had read a gem. A treasure.

A book that will continue on in my own daily living. And that, readers, is the very best book you can read. 

* Reading up on Liberia as well as Using Google Images and Pinterest added richness to reading this book. But rest assured, you do not have to, the author is very descriptive and elegant in his writing, you don't need technology but it can enhance the experience if needed.

Buy it.