Cracked Then Shattered: A Vietnam Story - Paperback

by Charles Ian Roberts (Author), Suzanne B. Ashley (Author)

My Memoir, Cracked and Shattered, provides a fresh perspective on the Vietnam War, the 60's generation, politics and love when a woman decides to reread her letters squirreled away in the attic from a lover 50 years earlier. His letters include a tour of duty in Vietnam, while hers are written today, a half century later. The story is told completely by these letters to each other. The time difference provided by her look-back presents their history from a unusual point of view, using a backdrop of contemporaneous events, a conversational give and take tone, and the correspondence as a literary device. As she takes the large basket of letters out of the attic, she starts to believe she can still communicate with him even though he is dead. She had hidden away her memories along with those letters, and it quickly becomes clear he has always held a meaningful place in her life. Her initial intention had been to honor his memory, but slowly she realizes that this memoir is more about her. Attempting to take stock in her life's decisions, she finally understands the truth.

Author Biography

Suzanne Bohrer Ashley, born in New York and raised in Pennsylvania, was strongly influenced by her Quaker education. A lifetime reader and writer, she has written many poems, short works and an earlier unpublished novel currently under development. She has been motivated to publish this memoir by her concerns about worldwide conflicts, the need for tolerance and the importance of our words as we communicate with each other. Cracked and Shattered, a true story, is unique in its presentation as she writes back today in answer to letters she received 50 years earlier from a Marine who served in Vietnam. She is currently working on a series of short stories and a novel involving the impact of mental illness on personal relationships.