GUARDIAN BOOK REVIEW
Hope for Carsonville: A Daughter’s Memoir
by Janis Stein

When Erin Q. Hartman started writing down some of her childhood memories in February 2004 to share with her three daughters, she never realized the result, Hope for Carsonville: A Daughter’s Memoir, would eventually rank eighth on Amazon.com’s hot pick for memoir.

Hope for Carsonville is a painfully honest story written by Erin, the youngest of 12 Quinlan children growing up in Carsonville, Michigan, under the care of her parents, Bill and Hope Quinlan. Life in a big Irish, Catholic family was anything but quiet, and Hope’s colorful personality made everyday life an adventure. Hope for Carsonville tells the tale of a dysfunctional family’s heartaches and triumphs and is written with a daughter’s love and compassion. Within the pages of her book, Hartman shares memories of a flawed mother and a small-town life filled with complexities. While some stories are heart wrenching, Hartman writes without bitterness or judgment.

“Hope was a very spiritual woman with very original ideas; 12 kids were such a cold reality to her life. As I wrote these stories as an adult, I understood my mother much, much more,” says Hartman.

Each of the 49 chapters in Hope for Carsonville is a separate story, so readers can enjoy the book in increments, though readers will find it difficult to put down. With Hartman for an author, it’s like being a fly on the Quinlan wall.

Readers will laugh with Hartman as she reflects on the methods Hope Quinlan used in raising her family, from buying new school shoes by tracing her children’s feet on a brown paper bag before going to the store to raising chickens in Erin’s upstairs bedroom closet.

Life, too, brings with it tragedy, and Hope and Bill rallied their family together when faced with the death of their son, Butch. Through her writing, Hartman somehow builds a relationship between her readership and Hope. And, near the end of Hope’s life, readers will identify with the Quinlan’s sadness. To know Hope was to love her, faults and all.

Hartman has made her home in Traverse City where she works as a hairdresser. After she first wrote a down few stories for her children, she shared them with her clients. So popular did her tales become, her clientele would come in for a haircut, requesting a story first.

Hartman intended to staple together 20 short stories and place them under the Christmas tree for her children, but word about Hope’s stories spread.

“I was naïve to the fact it was a different world I grew up in,” says Hartman. “My clients kept asking for stories about my mom. They were hooked on Hope.”

After a year of writing snippets about her childhood, Hartman began to envision a book, casting her mother, Hope, in the spotlight. Hartman submitted her manuscript to only one publisher - the publisher scooped it up before another had the chance.

“Writing turns on a part of my brain that I can’t turn off,” says Erin, as she reflects on her 3 a.m. writing sessions, when the resurrected people in her mind insist she get up and write. “Before I wrote the book, I always had these stories bouncing around in my head.”

During her writing adventure, Hartman’s many siblings showed her the unwavering support typical of big families. “After my oldest brother read the first story, he started to cry and said ‘Erin, you’re bringing her back…’ I hold onto that,” reflects Hartman.

“My brothers and sisters read the manuscript before it went to print, but when the book came out and they saw Hope on the cover, I think they were blown away.”

Hartman, who lost her mother while she was in her early 20s, realized all too soon parts of her journey back in time would be difficult.

“Hope was so alive in my heart, in my brain. I had figured out a way to bring my mom back 30 years after her death. I could tap into my heart when I needed her, but when the book was finished, she had to die again. That was the hardest part. I had to tell the world how it ended, and I didn’t want to.”

Despite the pain that resurfaced, Hartman pressed on. And she wrote from her soul.

With 2,500 readers already reflecting on this powerful book, Hope for Carsonville is in its second printing; Hartman has made several trips back to the Thumb area, appearing at book signings and reading her stories at retirement homes. “The stories are so authentic. Reading the stories and seeing people’s responses has been really exciting. If Hope were alive, she would be awestruck and impressed.”

Hartman is currently working on her second book, which will be an extension of the first. The Quinlan family moved to Palms during Erin’s sophomore year of high school; Hartman’s upcoming book will focus more on the Deckerville and Minden City area.

“My father lived 18 months after my mother died, and during that time, people came to see my dad and reminisced about Hope. We are an Irish, Catholic family with lots of storytellers. In my next book, you will get to know more of Hope, through the eyes of others.”

So dynamic and well written is Hope for Carsonville, readers will carry with them always the memory and stories of Hope Quinlan.

“When the book was finished, part of my heart could rest.”

For more information or if you would like to purchase Hartman’s book, please visit www.erinhartman.com and click on the publisher’s link, or you may e-mail Erin Hartman at eqhartman04@gmail.com.

©2008 Stein Expressions, LLC