Review of Courage and a Castle

More about Courage and a Castle

Courage and a Castle offers a unique and compassionate look at the human condition. The book opens with a poignant story about the author’s mother, Mary, near the end of her life and then reaches back to where Mary's memory no longer can. The book explores Mary's strength of character and strong work ethic that served as cornerstones for her future.

Early in her marriage to the love of her life, Mary became the sole breadwinner for their family of eight. Through family tragedies and life-threatening conditions, she met life's challenges with abiding faith, resilience, and kindness. Despite being severely affected by a brain bleed and later Alzheimer's, Mary adapted, and her spirit, faith, and unconditional love remained constant.

A heartwarming, inspirational, and, at times, humorous account of a life well lived, a life that inspired and touched many.

More About Wanita J. Koczka

Wanita J Koczka, aka WJK3, grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She lives on an acreage at the edge of the Boreal Forest near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She recently retired from a forty-year career in Corrections management, where she refined her non-fiction writing skills. As the primary caregiver for her elderly mother, who passed during COVID-19 in 2021, she was moved to give voice to her mother’s life through an unconventional memoir.

Like her mother, Wanita cherishes family time, Christmas, and family celebrations. She is a results-oriented woman who takes pride in her hard work and the value she adds to both her family and work life. Her most significant achievement is earning a Bachelor of Social Work while working full-time and raising three children. It took her ten years of night and summer classes to obtain her degree, which was crucial to her career advancement.

Thoughts About Courage and a Castle

I am not a big reader of memoir but a friend encouraged me to take a peek at Wanita Koczka's love letter to her mother, indeed to her whole family. I appreciated the strong links this family shared and how the author carefully showed us those links as well as the unflagging strength of her mother in the face of many adversities. No matter what your background, I feel any reader will identify with this family. They struggled, they tried to improve their life, they loved, they laughed, they sang.

It was divided into short but complete vignettes from throughout the life of the author's mother. These detailed musings brought this story to life. Bath night, the views from the beautiful Castle on the Hill, their mother's little habit or tapping her toes to music. They all created vivid pictures in my mind as I read. More than just being an inspiring story of a family's love perhaps it will also serve as another kind of inspiration. Inspiration to capture the stories of our own families.