The Carving: Celebrating Womanhood Through Stories and Skits

If we were on a trip to discover American womanhood in all its infinite variety, we might bus up and down the East Coast visiting cities, drive south stopping by farms and small towns, or travel west by train. In Judith Whites collection of short fictional tales and skits, she invites all of us to meet our fellow travelerswomen of all ages and walks of life willing to share their stories of struggles, triumphs, losses, and joys. It has been a decade since Rosella labored over an ironing board as she did for a family for thirty years. After she outlives the parents and survives personal tragedy, she becomes the adoptive mother to the four adult children as her resolute spirit continues to dictate her every move. During an unanticipated life event, a daughter reflects on the unrequited love a devoted admirer still possesses for her mother. After an older woman reveals that she has just had a dream about a romantic liaison with a much younger former president of the United States, she wonders if the dream is a foretelling sign about the end of her life. The Carving shares a glimpse into the challenges and delights of a variety of women as told through poignant, sometimes amusing short stories and skits.

Judith Kline White came of age in rural Ohio and earned degrees at both Oberlin College and Ohio State University. Her adult life includes extended periods in Central and South America, as well as Amsterdam. A lifelong lover of language, Judith is fluent in French and Spanish and conversant in Dutch, which she regularly refreshes during visits to The Netherlands. Her careers span linguist, educator, entrepreneur, and nonprofit fundraiser, including Peace Corps volunteer and trainer; founder, Foreign Language for Young Children; co-founder/co-director, Global Child, Inc.; and director of development, Latin American Health Institute. Her previous publications include Phrase-a-Day Series for Children in French, Spanish, and English; Amsterdam Trilogy, Book I, The Seventh Etching; Book II, The New Worlds of Isabela Calderon; and Book III, The Rise of Dirck Becker. With her husband, Allen L. White, she published a memoir, Autumns of Our Joy: A Tale of Romance, Stem Cells, and Rebirth. Mother of three grown children and grandmother of three, Judith lives with her husband, Allen L. White, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and St. Augustine / Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The Carving is her first collection of short fiction.