I read a lot of self-help sorts of books and this seemed to me to be a “formula” book, dutifully broken into sections and sections into chapters. There are lists of principles and lists of ways to practice what is learned and work with targeted problem areas. Halfway through I grew weary and bored; there wasn’t enough newness for me. I was thinking and wanting nurturing when I bought the book but received effectiveness instead.

This is a thorough book, with sections corresponding to the four seasons; “Winter: Primal Self-Care” covers basic self-nurture and nurturing of self in the family; “Spring: A Time for Renewal” covers the body, “from shame to celebration” and self-nurture as it relates to significant others; then there’s “Summer: Free Time for the Soul” about creativity, friends and siblings; and, finally, “Fall: Auspicious Beginnings” about “Joy at Work” and “The Faith Factor”. The information is all there and if one wants information, this is a good book.

Perhaps the fault is mine, for expecting a book on self-nurture to be nurturing, and to expect nurturing to mean what I define it to mean. But even the “stories” and examples seem dry, “I spent the hour on my porch, reading the paper and listening to the birds chirping. It was a blissful respite, and I picked up Sarah from day care in a much more relaxed state than I had been after my talk.” That quote is from the chapter on creativity and leisure.

Henry Dreher is coauthor and a health writer and I suspect the problem is that he and Dr. Domar don’t make a very interesting writing team. The book is primarily for and about women but I suspect it is Dr. Domar’s experience as director of the Mind/Body Center for Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School and Mr. Dreher’s writing about it that make up this book. Perhaps it would be better with a woman writer who has more of a “feel” for Dr. Domar’s experience. But as I said, the information is all there and if one only wants or needs information, this is a good book. I just don’t see “information” and “nurture” as belonging together in the same context.
 

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