Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: kayce-stevens-hughlett

  • SOULSTROLLER: Experiencing the weight, whispers, & wings of the world by Kayce Stevens Hughlett – Women’s Biographies, Personal Transformations, Self-Help

    SOULSTROLLER: Experiencing the weight, whispers, & wings of the world by Kayce Stevens Hughlett – Women’s Biographies, Personal Transformations, Self-Help

    In a creative blend of existential memoir and artful travel journal, Kayce Stevens Hughlett’s SoulStroller takes readers along on an adventurous journey of self-discovery. Reminiscent of Elizabeth Gilbert’s popular Eat, Pray, Love, Hughlett focuses on family issues, ancestral memories, and dreams explored within the context of personal travels, focusing on the importance of moving beyond our comfort zones.

    Here we come to learn that a SoulStroller is a term used for an individual who ventures into the fullest version of their true selves. Guided by intuition and spiritual essence, they stroll through life with a feeling of curiosity, compassion, contentment, and gratitude. Like a pilgrim on a quest, they follow their heart, rather than move ahead with a tourist mentality of set goals and to-do lists.

    Raised with the traditional expectations of the “good girl,” Hughlett lived the first 30 years of her life within 150 miles of Oklahoma City, an area of white, middle-class, conservatives. The blinders came off when she moved to Seattle. Divorced, and remarried with two children, Hughlett indicates that when everything is FINE, sometimes that refers to the acronym for “fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and exhausted.”

    It is during a trip to Mexico in search of a therapeutic boarding school for her troubled son that she finds a sense of peace and a firm idea of place as she falls in love with the desert landscape. With the outstretched arms of the saguaro cactus offering a sense of peace, it is in this moment that everything changes.

    Hughlett’s journeys go far beyond visits to the likes of the Eiffel Tower and Louvre. Whether enjoying the delicacy of an eggplant and cheese sandwich on the banks of the Seine or meeting a charmingly eccentric and her poodle, Hughlett learns to distinguish the essential rhythms of her own life.

    Hughlett writes with a comfortable conversational voice that invites readers into her world view; one that she approaches with both exuberance and trepidation. The overall narrative unfolds in a generally chronological sequence, though journal entries and recollections can at times reflect past memories or events.

    Insightful words from several authors, poets, scholars, and artists are used to grace the opening of each chapter, including contributions as varied as those of Roald Dahl, Thich Nhat Hanh, Gloria Steinem, and Henry Miller. Mark Twain’s quote seems to epitomize the central “SoulStroller” sentiment in “Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

    Each section of the book concludes with a simple practicum highlighting suggestions for readers to venture into their own SoulStrolling mindset. Exercises range from quiet meditation and writing prompts, to practicing self-kindness and ideas for travels off the beaten path.

    While Hughlett considers that her story may be too personal or esoteric for some readers, her work speaks to her positive growth, as her travels and experiences have allowed her to trust her own voice and value the lessons of her own journey. This is a book that strings together individual pearls of wisdom that have universal appeal.

    SoulStroller by Kayce Stevens Hughlett won 1st Place in the CIBA 2018 Journey Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.

     

     

  • BLUE: a novel by Kayce Stevens Hughlett – transcends genres with its complexity of story and psychological suspense

    BLUE: a novel by Kayce Stevens Hughlett – transcends genres with its complexity of story and psychological suspense

    This lyrically written, beautiful story of three emotionally broken yet connected women begins in present day, illustrating the current struggles each faces to simply hold it together and get through each day. The tale then slowly unravels—as these women’s lives unravel—to reveal the mystery in their past that connects them.

    We meet Izabel—a young woman who arrived on Shaw Island in Washington State without any memory of her life up to that point. Taken in and cared for by the nuns, she then trained as a doula, a birthing coach. Izabel now lives on Orcas Island and is a valued member of the community, but it soon becomes apparent that she is struggling with the re-emergence of repressed memories.

    As those memories surface, her current life begins to deteriorate: She dreams of a teenage girl, experiences birthing pains after a particularly difficult night with one of her clients, and almost melts down in a coffee shop when a name mentioned by a friend sounds horribly familiar. Izabel knows that she must deal with whatever is happening to her and turns to a close friend and mentor for help.

    Not far away in Seattle, we meet Monica, a single, clinically depressed woman with a closeted addiction. Her life is unraveling, and she has no idea how to put it back together. Through a sequence of events she meets Jack, a psychotherapist, who cares deeply about her and supports her as she grapples with overcoming her problems.

    And Daisy dreams in shades of blue about the fantastical world of Tausi in which creatures talk about philosophy and an evil master is plotting her demise. Is she having a near death experience? Or is she really dreaming? Where is she?

    Kayce Stevens Hughlett has used her extensive background in therapy and as a life coach to create a novel about the deeply rooted psychological connections between all of us. Blue is a story that is at times wonderfully whimsical, and at others, poignant, heartfelt, and even suspenseful.

    But most of all, it is an uplifting tale about how three women who have spent years only half alive and struggling, and who, with the help of a supportive network of friends, eventually deal with past traumas and are able to find their way back to each other.

    Blue transcends genres with its complexity of story and psychological suspense. It would not be a surprise if it appears on Oprah’s Book Club list. A poignant, inspiring tale of three women, emotionally damaged by the events of their lives, who ultimately find their way back to each other.