Charlene Reviews: My Corner of the Sky by Kerri Dyer-Keen

ISBN #: 978-1450226646

Page Count: 408

Copyright: 2010

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

She was going to go home with her husband driving the car, in order to get ready to perform a variety show at a leading club in Sydney Australia. Happy, everything seeming normal. Next thing you know - 4 and a half months later - total chaos reigns!

30 years on Kerri is a singer, that can no longer sing! (at the moment!)

Follow her through her growing up years - 'her time as a witch'! - 'her time as a club and television entertainer' - her 'scary road trip to Darwin' and 'performing at the Sydney Opera house'. - Then she has an accident - Chaos, and the eventual triumph over adversity! Laugh and cry at all the funny and strange things that made up Kerri's 3 'different' lives - Sometimes wish that it was your life? MAYBE NOT!!!!!!!

Charlene's Review:

Kerri Dyer was an up-and-coming talent in Australia when she was in a horrific car accident that changed her life forever. Mrs. Dyer-Keen takes us back to her days as a child of unconventional parenting, through her glamorous years as a singer/entertainer in top clubs, and through the 30 and counting years of rehabilitation after her accident. Having lost her ability to sing, suffering the effects of brain damage, and living with ataxia, Mrs. Dyer-Keen shows us how her childhood wish "to be different" has definitely come true.

I began this book wondering if I could possibly muddle through it. Her memoir is written in a bit of a confusing frenzy, somewhat off-putting at first, but ripe with optimistic triumph. That said, if you can manage to muddle through the unorthodox writing style, this is an inspirational, often humorous book that speaks to true perseverance, and a tremendous optimism that most people just do not have.

The heart of this story is how from her accident in July of 1978 to the present, Kerri Dyer-Keen has fought to regain her life. Leaving behind her entertainment dreams, she has since had a daughter, married the true love of her life, and surpassed all the obstacles modern medicine cautioned against, including her continued efforts to sing once more. My Corner of the Sky is a story of a very special woman's ability to soar higher than even she thought possible.