Castles & Ruins - by Rue Matthiessen (Hardcover)

About the Book

The daughter of National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen revisits the Irish castle they lived in during a summer in the 60's and comes to terms with the costs ambition and success had in her family.

Book Synopsis

Decades after spending a summer in the Irish countryside with her parents-author Deborah Love and National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen-Rue takes her young family back to Ireland to revisit locales from that season in the sixties. As a guide, she has her mother's poetic book, Annaghkeen, named for the castle that overlooked their home in Galway.

What begins as a simple, nostalgic trip quickly becomes something far more complex. As Rue approaches Annaghkeen Castle and digs deeper into her parents' literary legacy, a trove of memories is unearthed, forcing her to reckon with a childhood fraught with the stormy energy of two brilliant parents often at odds with each other and their children.

Both a rich and informative travelogue and a profoundly emotional memoir, Castles & Ruins celebrates the triumph of creative success while frankly appraising the often-terrible costs a family must pay for it.

Praise for Castles & Ruins:

"Rue Matthiessen's memoir is unforgettable, a true testament to human will and the healing nature of understanding and owning one's truth, even while wishing that things might have been different."

--Story Circle Network

"Matthiessen's powerful storytelling vividly portrays her childhood and coming-of-age years....thought-provoking and moving."

--Edith Wairimu, Readers' Favorite

"Rue Matthiessen's heartfelt memoir, Castles & Ruins is, in essence, configured like a Celtic cross.... we see how the figure of the circle is at the very center of Matthiessen's being. Celtic tradition calls for both mourning and celebrating at death. Precisely the emotions and the rituals that Rue Matthiessen gives the reader in this complex, deeply felt work."

--Lou Ann Walker, The East Hampton Star

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"Castles & Ruins is a masterpiece, a must-read for anyone who sees beauty in the broken, finds solace in the unraveled, and believes that stories, like ancient stones, hold the power to illuminate the paths of the present."

--Midnights Book Tours

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"Prepare to be transported through the vibrant landscapes of Ireland as Rue Matthiessen unravels a captivating tale in her memoir, Castles & Ruins.... a lyrical dance of memories, familial bonds, and the enduring legacy of literary brilliance."

--Twins Reading Books

Review Quotes

"Matthiessen's powerful storytelling vividly portrays her childhood and coming-of-age years....thought-provoking and moving."

--Edith Wairimu, Readers' Favorite

"Matthiessen's powerful storytelling vividly portrays her childhood and coming-of-age years....thought-provoking and moving."

--Edith Wairimu, Readers' Favorite

"Rue Matthiessen's heartfelt memoir, Castles & Ruins is, in essence, configured like a Celtic cross.... we see how the figure of the circle is at the very center of Matthiessen's being. Celtic tradition calls for both mourning and celebrating at death. Precisely the emotions and the rituals that Rue Matthiessen gives the reader in this complex, deeply felt work."

--Lou Ann Walker, The East Hampton Star

​

"Castles & Ruins is a masterpiece, a must-read for anyone who sees beauty in the broken, finds solace in the unraveled, and believes that stories, like ancient stones, hold the power to illuminate the paths of the present."

--Midnights Book Tours

​

"Prepare to be transported through the vibrant landscapes of Ireland as Rue Matthiessen unravels a captivating tale in her memoir, Castles & Ruins. This enchanting narrative goes beyond the ordinary, immersing readers in a world where the past and present converge in a lyrical dance of memories, familial bonds, and the enduring legacy of literary brilliance."

--Twins Reading Books