Lucinda and Her Books
I’ve featured Mennonite author Lucinda J. on my blog a few years ago. When her first book came out in 2017, the memoir Anything but Simple, her name was Lucinda J. Miller. You can read that post here.
A few years ago, she married Ivan and changed her last name to Kinsinger. Now the couple has a baby daughter Annalise, both photos below posted on her blog.
Lucinda not only has a new baby daughter, but she has birthed a book baby as well.
This year Luci has published a new book, Turtle Heart (2021), which highlights a 2-year relationship with a feisty Ojibwe woman, Charlene Brand. The relationship takes center stage in the book, but she also reflects on her close-knit Mennonite family, her job as a nursing assistant, and her introduction to higher education in a secular setting. Her experience in a creative writing class is reminiscent of my own in a Temple University classroom where I observed “the curve of ash from a student’s Lucky Strike burn a spark hole onto a page of her text book.”
Book Blurb
What happens when a sheltered, young Mennonite befriends an ornery, old Ojibwe woman in order to lead her to Christ—and finds that old woman has more to teach her about God and humanity than she ever dreamed?
These two women from widely differing cultures and belief systems soon build a connection that runs deeper than their differences. Kinsinger’s memoir of friendship reads like a novel, at once riveting and introspective, timeless and surprising.
In plain terms, Turtle Heart is the story of two needy souls, one desiring to rescue, the other hoping to be rescued. Lucinda Kinsinger’s second memoir subtitled Unlikely Friends with a Life-Changing Bond traces the relationship between these two souls, “one desperate for love, the other hungry to give it.”
Young Luci, a conservative Mennonite of European descent, is drawn to the enigma of Charlene Brand, a feisty, older woman with Ojibwe blood. Luci approaches Charlene with evangelistic zeal, intending to save her soul from eternal damnation. Mennonite and Ojibwe cultures never collide with a bang, Luci’s natural shyness forbidding that, but they do alternately attract and repel like magnets.
The author has an uncanny ability to discern her own and Charlene’s interior thoughts and motivations, parsing her own and her friend’s behavior with dynamic dialogue, stopping short of sounding cloying. Whether they are in Charlene’s mint-green shuttered house saturated with stale smoke, at Luci’s farm home, or in a hospital room, we sense their growing bond. The friendship grows by fits and starts though, Charlene challenging Luci’s staunch, biblical beliefs and exposing her naiveté and penchant for people pleasing. Luci strains for an honest friendship as she discovers Char’s turtle heart, hard-shelled on the outside, tender within.
As the narrative unfolds, we learn that the writer longs to become an author, taking creative writing courses as she works as a nursing assistant at a local hospital. We feel the tension as Charlene’s needs impinge on Luci’s time and energy. How ironic that a woman who interrupts the author’s desire to pursue her writing career has handed her a cross-cultural and inter-generational story—in fact, an entire book published almost a decade later.
Readers who enjoy vivid imagery will appreciate lines like “The sky is the washed-out color of winter as though the blue has been run through the washer too many times, and the dye has leaked out.” I suspect that the author kept a journal for the years 2011-2012 because the characters and incidents are portrayed with descriptive detail.
This book has appeal for a conservative Mennonite audience in particular, and to others who appreciate an eyewitness account of an evolving, unique friendship.
Connect with Luci
Book Giveaway
Yes, you can receive an autographed copy of Luci’s new book. Here’s how:
- Comment on this post now or any time during the next week.
- The giveaway will close in one week on Tuesday, October 26 at 12:00 midnight, EST.
- Only comments posted on this blog will count as an entry. I will announce the winner here and by email.
Good morning, Marian! Thank you for sharing information about this book and your review.
I remember, too, your discussions about your time at Temple U.
(I’m commenting for you, not for the giveaway.) 😀
Thanks, Merril! You probably also recall my memoir chapter entitled Philadelphia, which gives a glimpse into a Temple University classroom. I also wrote about a fellow with foolish intent in this blog post quite a while ago: https://marianbeaman.com/2014/02/01/false-pregnancy/
I do remember, and I went back to read the post. Sexual harassment everywhere.
Good Morning Marian,
I know I will enjoy this book by reading your review. I believe that the most best friends relationships start out in uncanny ways. Two different people from diverse cultures meet up and an eternal bond begins that connects them together forever.
It happens and I call that the hand of God weaving into two people lives what they are searching for.
Great article. I truly enjoyed it and will read the book.
Shalom aleichem
Pat, I believe you have experienced the hand of God in forming some of your friendships as well. Right now I’m thinking of the unlikely friendship between Della and a stranger in your story earlier this year, Turn the Light On: https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Light-Pat-Garcia-ebook/dp/B08WCGNGTF/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
I’m glad the post resonated with you. Peace and Joy to you! 😀
Wow! Great review, Marian! I love that this book started as one person trying to reach another person for Christ, but then learns some lessons about life in return. It’s a reminder to me at least that just because I think I have the answer that someone needs, that person might have some answers to questions I didn’t know I had.
What a sweet couple. And their precious baby–so cute!
These words really jumped out at me: ” just because I think I have the answer that someone needs, that person might have some answers to questions I didn’t know I had.” That’s so true, and that’s why it’s so important to be open to new opportunities and ways of viewing the world. Thanks, Linda Marie!
Marian — I originally met Lucinda at the Writers’ Institute at UW-Madison. Oh, how I enjoyed reading this update on Lucinda’s life/author journey.
Actually, you introduced me to the author, then Lucinda Miller, as she was writing her first book. Huge thanks, Laurie!
😀
Best wishes to Luci for the launch of her new memoir!
And thanks for checking in today to meet Luci, Liz! 😀
You’re welcome, Marian! She seems like a lovely young woman.
😀
You never know how meeting one person is going to change a life, yours or theirs, or someone you come in contact with! I have seen it happen time and again. Being open to that change, to understand that we need that invisible Hand of guidance in a crazy world, is a gift. I look forward to reading this book.
Hi, Ginger. I believe “gift’ is the right word to name encounters guided by an invisible Hand. They are never really coincidences. I’m glad this post has enticed you to read Turtle Heart. Thanks! 😀
Intriguing book review. Intriguing author. I especially liked the drawing on her “Post about Charlene” of
the woman clinging tenaciously to a shiny red heart.
A picture does say a thousand words.
Pick me, pick me!
Jean
I’m glad this post & review has piqued your interest in reading Luci’s book, however it comes into your hands. Thanks, sister Jean. 😀
That sounds like a wonderful book, Marian, especially for us here in Canada where we are dealing with broken relationships with our Indigenous Canadians who are discovering unmarked graves around the residential schools the children were forced to attend earlier in our history. I would love a copy!
I have been using Douglas Wood’s two Turtle books in preparing recent sermons. (“Old Turtle” and “Old Turtle and the Broken Truth.” ) They are written for children but adults love them and the illustrations are wonderful too.
I didn’t use the word “indigenous” to describe Charlene’s heritage, but so it is. Her tribe populated Wisconsin earlier than the European immigrants. Thank you for mentioning an author I’m not familiar with, Douglas Wood. I too like children’s books with great illustrations, especially if it’s about a topic new to me. Thanks for the enlightenment, Elfrieda!
For anyone else interested in this classic fable: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT8J0BC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Hi Marian, thank you for introducing Lucinda and this fascinating book to us. It really does sound a bit like it was just meant to be for her. My mother always says that sometimes in life, decisions are made for you through circumstances and events.
Your mother is very wise, Robbie, and I’m happy to introduce Luci and her books. Thank you! 😀
Your review intrigues me. I would love to read this book. Having lived cross cultural as well, I know about thinking I have to give, but ending up receiving more than I gave.
Welcome, Joanna. In the book, Luci feels impelled to share her faith, but I don’t think she realized the gift of friendship she would receive in return. Thanks for commenting here! 😀
I too am grateful to you for this update on Lucinda, Marian. I visited her website and am so impressed by her productivity as an author. Wow. So many books. And all while marrying and becoming a young mother, among many other responsibilities, I am sure. She has a calling, that is clear.
You are right, Shirley, Luci does have a calling on her life. Her father was her biggest ally in publishing her first book. Now she has a supportive husband. And she is young, still in her early thirties. I expect several more books from her, perhaps one about motherhood. 😀
Shirley, it’s good to see this comment from you. I love your description: “a calling.” Yes, I do.
Some of the books I’ve featured on my website are compilations to which I’ve contributed. Of those published myself, I have two memoirs and children’s book and many more ideas in my head. 🙂
Thanks for joining the conversation here, Luci. Shirley, a mentor to many, is interested in your progress and recognizes, as I do, that you have many more years of writing ahead of you. Cheers! 😀
Interesting to think of a good story centered around cultures attracting and repelling…a story I would like to read. Thanks for promoting it here, Marian. And for writing it Lucinda.
It’s good to hear from you, Dolores. You’re welcome, and yes, your comment did make me smile. 🙂
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I hope Lucinda will read this and smile. She would like to know that her story has a magnetic pull. It’s good to hear from you, Dolores. Thanks! 😀
Unlikely friendships make some of the best stories. When we’re not being a closed society, these beautiful things occur naturally. Thanks for the introduction to Lucinda.
You’re welcome, Pete. And sometimes it can happen digitally too. Look at what happens on blogs – ha!
But Lucinda’s and Charlene’s relationship flourished because their encounters were frequent and face-to-face.
*closed-minded society
Got it! 😀
Good morning, traveling again here. Our travels home will take us near Lucy’s home and I’ve made a tentative appointment with her to stop in, see the baby, meet her husband, and get one of her new books. So you don’t need to enter my name in the drawing. We had lunch together a few years ago after the release of Anything But Simple and she did a book signing at our Barnes and Noble. That book was so well written so I’m looking forward to this new one. Thanks for this review for her!
Wonderful news! Although both of Luci’s memoirs are set in Wisconsin, she has moved closer to your home since her marriage. This book is even more developed than her first memoir, which I think was part of the PlainSpoken series.
Melodie, with this visit, I believe you have a a blog post theme ready to go. Enjoy the rest of your travels! 😀
Good idea Marian …. 🙂
😀
What a delight it is to meet you and read about you and your blog. I hope to follow your writing. Best of luck to you. My blog is on wordpress and address is https://drniemczura.wordpress.com Be well.
I can tell from your website that you are highly educated, well-traveled, and curious. My ancestry includes both German and Swiss forebears. Thanks for visiting and commenting here, Mary Annie. 😀
Marian, your comment is much appreciated. With five degrees in German, I have studied and taught as a Fulbright teacher in Germany. For about three years I studied in Heidelberg. My passion was teaching which I did for almost 50 years. Now retired, I enjoy some travel and choral singing. Switzerland is a beautiful country. We still maintain contact with our “second family” in Schweindorf near the border with Bavaria. I normally blog weekly on Fridays if you want to sign up to follow me on WordPress. Do you also speak German at home? Alles Gute, Mary Ann 🙂
Yes, my ancestry is German-Swiss. Years ago we visited the Langeneggar dairy farm in Langnau Switzerland, very beautiful. In the 1940s when Hitler was coming into power, my family was discouraged from passing along the High German language. Although this fact is very disappointing to me, I understand the pressure to conform when the USA was at war with Germany.
It sounds as though you have a full life, with many accomplishments. Again, thanks for introducing yourself here, Mary Ann.
Marian, thank you for the visit and lovely, personal comment. It is good to reflect and wonder how things might have been different. Since I only taught Hochdeutsch, our two children became fluent in it, but they also learned some of the dialects spoken. I personally can understand most dialects after being immersed in the language for a long period of time. I understand and have empathy for your memories and those of your family. Trying times to say the least. We await a visit from our daughter for a few days. Family is precious Be well and have a good weekend. 🙂
Mennonites in Lancaster County spoke what was known as “Pennsylvania Deutsch.” I sprinkle some of these sayings in the dialogue and in a glossary section entitled “Sayings of the Mother and Father in my memoir, Mennonite Daughter, which may interest you.
Enjoy time with your daughter. Yes, indeed, family is precious! 😀
Thank you. My new blog is now ready for your perusal if you like. Waiting on our daughter as I write. Be well and enjoy the weekend.
Pete said it best that unlikely friendships make the best stories, and this does sound like a great one. I love your comment that they “alternately attract and repel like magnets.” That would make compelling reading. Lucinda’s life is inspiring. She’s a prolific author and also has a career in nursing. I have incredible respect for people who choose that career. And can I mention how adorable her daughter is? 🙂 I love the name “Annalise.” It’s beautiful. I am positive she will write about her someday.
I like when one comment inspires another here. It makes this column feel like a real conversation. I don’t believe Luci would consider her nursing job as a career since it was for just a short time until she could devote herself to writing.
Like you, I’m certain Luci will continue writing and probably include her experiences as a mother in an upcoming book. Her blog includes more photos of her adorable daughter. As always, thanks, Melanie! 😀
Ah, I misunderstood her nursing job history, but I will always sing praises for those who assist in healthcare! 🙂 Thanks for introducing us to Luci and her writing.
Melanie, whatever Luci has been involved in, she has done wholeheartedly. No worries about her job history. She is a writer at heart and does whatever she needs to do (nursing or teaching) to support herself as an author. Thanks again for adding to our conversation here. 😀
Your review of this book makes me want to read it all the more. No matter our age, we can learn from each other. God knows no boundaries!
Welcome to my blog, Emily. I’m glad the review of Turtle Heart piqued your interest. This memoir is definitely worth your time. Thank you! 😀
Certainly would enjoy reading Lucinda’s Turtle Heart memoir. Thanks for offering it to us this way.
Thanks for tuning in here. I’m glad this post enticed you to read Luci’s book. 😀
What a nice review, Marian, and how nice of you to introduce us (again) to Lucinda and tell us about her family and her new book. It looks fascinating. I wonder if we all have interesting stories about our first creative writing classes. I bet we do! My first one was at the U of Delaware – a night class when I was 6 months pregnant. Inspired me so much! I wrote the first draft of my children’s book Birds of Paradise in that class. Only took me until my son (growing in my womb at the time) turned 35 years old to get it published!!! ;-0
Pam, you have stories galore. I’ll bet you could write volumes about your experiences taking creative writing classes. I’d also be curious about your experience as a creative writing teacher, Creative Classes Commence. Oh, gosh, please dream up a better title.
I do have a copy of Birds of Paradise; it was worth the wait – ha! 😀
Thank you for the introduction to Lucinda, which was very interesting to me because my “second family” was Mennonite and I have many Mennonite friends. I also travelled to British Honduras (now Belize) to visit friends that lived in a old Mennonite colony. I was welcomed into the communities and enjoyed those delicious Faspa lunches which were served in the afternoon around 3:30 or later. All the best to Lucinda and congratulations!
Welcome, Rebecca! I’m glad you could relate to Lucinda as a Mennonite. Your mention of Faspa lunch in the afternoon reminds me of an English high tea. Since the word “Faspa” is new to me, I looked it up to find it includes zwieback and of course meat and cheese. Thanks for adding to my knowledge here and for joining the conversation. 😀
Annalise is adorable. Just gotta say that up front. This novel sounds fascinating and uplifting. You’re wonderful to feature it here.
Thanks for the thumbs up here. I reviewed both of Lucinda’s memoirs, and she has reviewed mine. I guess you’d call it reciprocity. I agree: Annalise is simply adorable! 😀
‘Turtle Heart’ sounds like a gem to me. I’m fascinated by what would take place to bring these women to mutual understanding and spiritual growth. From my experience, it’s always wonderful to have deep interactions with people of other faiths and the indigenous cultures have so much to teach us.
I’m learning how to better understand and articulate my relationship with nature by reading ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Kimmerer. It sounds like ‘Turtle Heart’ would be a teacher, too. I think of you as warm and toasty in FL while I’m building my first wood fires of the season–another kind of warm and toasty. Blessings to the beautiful baby Annalise.
Lucinda is part of a culture and faith that is more conservative than my upbringing. That she would seek the friendship of someone so different in age and belief system is a tribute to her maturity and open-heartedness.
Thanks for the book title you suggested. Yes, we are warm now, with moderate temps during the day and the cool 60s at night. After 5 1/2 months of 90+ degrees, it’s a very welcome change. As always, thanks for visiting this column again this week, Elaine. 😀
This was a lovely introduction again to Lucinda and her books. Your review had me adding to my read list on Amazon. Congrats to Lucinda on the book, her marriage, and her beautiful baby. <3
Lucinda will be thrilled that you have added her book to your Amazon TBR list. As you and I know, authors want an audience after they’ve labored so long on a book.
Yes, she is a busy woman. And so are you, keeping up with online connections as you continue to process your grief. What a year you have had. Thanks for joining the conversation here. Huge Hugs, Debby! ((( )))
Thanks for the introduction to Lucinda’s books, and wishing her much success. 🙂 x
What perfect timing Marian, as Christmas approaches. My Mom will like this book (and then I get to read it too! 😉 I”ve already purchased yours and others you’ve recommended. lol
I’m glad this book prompted you to buy as a Christmas gift. Lucinda would love that!
Thanks for swinging by, Jenn! 🙂