Official Review: The Blue Velvet Glove

[InStoree]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Blue Velvet Glove" by Mary Ellen Campagna.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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“Don’t worry about me; the real Victoria Romano is hidden deep down in a blue velvet glove where no one and nothing can ever hurt me.”

Her mother’s words may sound encouraging, but Mary Ellen Campagna felt the exact opposite. This sentence followed her through life as she lived in an uncontrollable, crumbling world. In The Blue Velvet Glove, she tells her readers about some of the struggles she endured in her early years and also as a mother. Despite the book being classified as “Other Fiction,” it could be read as a memoir; the author expresses her true-life story.

With ongoing life challenges, Mary finds herself deep in the unchartered terrain of her mind. She develops a serious anxiety disorder that later manifests as depression. Mary’s love life is bittersweet as she finds herself with an abusive spouse. Her son, Will, is diagnosed with dyslexia and aphasia at an early age. Mary tries her best to overcome her low self-esteem, manage the conflicts with her abusive husband, and deal with the parenting issues of having a dyslexic child. The churches where she sought solace seemed more like “social clubs for comfortable people; clubs that were designed to keep everyone who was not the right kind out.” Even her professional ascent in various careers proves difficult. At one point in her job as a teacher, a student threatened to kill her. Living by her aunt’s motto, “in each life, some rain must fall,” Mary soldiers on, but will she make it through the storm that life has in store for her?

I liked how the author was courageous enough to talk openly about some significant subjects that our society faces. Topics such as racial discrimination, churches and other religious groups that reject you if you’re not their kind or Christian enough, and the drug abuse that has crept into our schools are all extensively covered in the book. Woven together with these societal themes, a good number of characters are developed to bring out the complete family picture in the story. The use of flashbacks was impressive, creating a vivid portrayal of the protagonist’s early life. From this, I learned more about the kind of parental care she received as a young woman and how this may have impacted her psychological well-being as an adult.

There are certain paragraphs in which the author didn’t seem to finish her thoughts. She constantly jumped from one scenario to another without concluding the subject or topic at hand. This created challenges in separating the past from the present and caused gaps in the storyline. Some scenes are missing details, and perhaps a better-organized storyline would have made the story more complete.

Throughout the book, the author focused more on her struggles. If she had also shared pleasurable moments or wise life lessons, the story would have been a bit more appealing. Unfortunately, it appears more of a bad times journal. Despite this, the beautiful metaphor of the title — symbolizing a protective barrier against all bad things and the opportunity to hide the real you in order not to get hurt — was somewhat enticing. I would recommend this read to people who enjoy real-life stories peppered with dramatic moments.

The book needs an editorial revision since it contains some grammatical errors. An editor could also improve the structure of the story by either deleting or enhancing the chapters that seem fragmented. There are some sexual references made but without any explicit scenes. A few obscene words have also been used in some instances. My rate for The Blue Velvet Glove, by Mary Ellen Campagna, is 3 out of 4 stars. Overall, I was awed by the author’s strength in sharing her story in a way that expresses her intelligent and creative writing style. I would love to read Campagna’s other works, including The Journal of Sammy Gales, an unlikely witch and Unalet P. Zipley.

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The Blue Velvet Glove
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[AvidBibliophile]

The drama of real-life experiences can authentically pepper any memoir with tangible tones of trauma and travesty. Perhaps if the author were able to highlight a silver lining somewhere, it could cohesively feel more complete and all encompassing. Thank you for your honest and insightful review!

[That Reviewer]

I agree with you, this can pass as a memoir. It's a shame it was riddled with errors.

[Prisallen]

It sounds as if the author had a hard life. I think the story would depress me too much. Thanks for an informative and interesting review!

[Julius_]

Wow! This sounds like a great book. The mother's words are inspiring. Thanks for the review.

[InStoree]

The drama of real-life experiences can authentically pepper any memoir with tangible tones of trauma and travesty. Perhaps if the author were able to highlight a silver lining somewhere, it could cohesively feel more complete and all encompassing. Thank you for your honest and insightful review!

Thank you, AvidBibliophile! I hope you'll give it a try.

I agree with you, this can pass as a memoir. It's a shame it was riddled with errors.

Perhaps the author will ameliorate these errors soon. However, I would still recommend it if you're willing to close one eye and enjoy the read with the other. It touches some interesting subjects.

It sounds as if the author had a hard life. I think the story would depress me too much. Thanks for an informative and interesting review!

It can be depressing, yes. I hear you. Maybe the next one would be more on your liking. Thank you for taking the time to read though!

Wow! This sounds like a great book. The mother's words are inspiring. Thanks for the review.

Yeah, quite creative, same as the title. An ingenious, catchy approach. Thank you, Julius, for commenting!

[That Reviewer]

The drama of real-life experiences can authentically pepper any memoir with tangible tones of trauma and travesty. Perhaps if the author were able to highlight a silver lining somewhere, it could cohesively feel more complete and all encompassing. Thank you for your honest and insightful review!

Thank you, AvidBibliophile! I hope you'll give it a try.

I agree with you, this can pass as a memoir. It's a shame it was riddled with errors.

I can overlook errors if the storyline is interesting.

Perhaps the author will ameliorate these errors soon. However, I would still recommend it if you're willing to close one eye and enjoy the read with the other. It touches some interesting subjects.

It sounds as if the author had a hard life. I think the story would depress me too much. Thanks for an informative and interesting review!

It can be depressing, yes. I hear you. Maybe the next one would be more on your liking. Thank you for taking the time to read though!

Wow! This sounds like a great book. The mother's words are inspiring. Thanks for the review.

Yeah, quite creative, same as the title. An ingenious, catchy approach. Thank you, Julius, for commenting!

[Shabram22]

I'm always afraid of picking up a book that talks about depression and dark times in someone's life because I if a book is too dark without any bright moments it would be very hard to read. It seems like this book is very dark and sad. I'm not sure I will this book. Thank you for your review.

[InStoree]

I'm always afraid of picking up a book that talks about depression and dark times in someone's life because I if a book is too dark without any bright moments it would be very hard to read. It seems like this book is very dark and sad. I'm not sure I will this book. Thank you for your review.

I know what you mean, Shabram! It can be very emotional. Thank you for taking the time to read my review though!

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

I liked how the author was courageous enough to talk openly about some significant subjects that our society faces. Topics such as racial discrimination, churches and other religious groups that reject you if you’re not their kind or Christian enough, and the drug abuse that has crept into our schools are all extensively covered in the book. Woven together with these societal themes, a good number of characters are developed to bring out the complete family picture in the story.

It takes courage to approach such controversial social issues, but it's important to bring them out in the open so they can, hopefully, be solved.
I understand your criticism. Unfortunately, we as humans tend to focus on the "bad times". But yes, it would've been nice and even enriching to the story to add "happier" topics for a more balanced read.
An amazing, thorough review. Thank you!

[InStoree]

I liked how the author was courageous enough to talk openly about some significant subjects that our society faces. Topics such as racial discrimination, churches and other religious groups that reject you if you’re not their kind or Christian enough, and the drug abuse that has crept into our schools are all extensively covered in the book. Woven together with these societal themes, a good number of characters are developed to bring out the complete family picture in the story.

It takes courage to approach such controversial social issues, but it's important to bring them out in the open so they can, hopefully, be solved.
I understand your criticism. Unfortunately, we as humans tend to focus on the "bad times". But yes, it would've been nice and even enriching to the story to add "happier" topics for a more balanced read.
An amazing, thorough review. Thank you!

Thanks for your support, Andrea!

[Ronel_Steyn]

This does sound like an amazing book. The fact that the author focuses more on the negative aspects deters me from picking it up. Thank you for your thorough review.

[InStoree]

This does sound like an amazing book. The fact that the author focuses more on the negative aspects deters me from picking it up. Thank you for your thorough review.

Thank you for reading my review, Ronel! Enjoy the reading!