Always Going Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.  

About the book

Always Going is a memoir by Gwen Campbell (1933 - 2011) that spans her life from the age of four to thirteen. In this book, Gwen reflects about her life in the 1930's and the 1940's where she constantly moved around in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, California, and New Mexico.

Gwen shares how she traveled around to many small towns while her mother searched for employment. She reveals life lessons from her childhood experiences through her account of her sad, boring, and happy moments. Gwen, a resourceful and resilient child, also explains how she started to think of people, not places, as her home.

About the author

During her 80 years, Gwen was an avid reader, who by the age of nine realized that she was going to be an author. Later in her adult life she went on to write twenty fictional books, a book of short stories and poems, several children's books, and two dozen genealogical books.

Before she wrote her first fictional book in 1983, she had spent twenty years as an accomplished weaver, spinner, and quilter. Her daughter Alexis Campbell Jansky and her son-in-law Richard Jansky are responsible for editing and publishing all her written works.

Thoughts

I love reading about history because I find it fascinating learning about the past. Gwen Campbell did an excellent job describing her childhood memories and revealing life lessons that she learned from her experiences. I loved her account of learning to read and why she didn't care to be rich when she got older. I loved her two goals in life: 1) to be a mom, and 2) be a writer.

Through her stories, I gained a big appreciation of how society is today. We are so blessed to have electricity, modern medicine, running water, and cars. It is so easy to forget how much people had to work back then. I really have no need to complain about my life.

One thing I would like to point out is that the author does use swear words in her memoir. I didn't feel like it was necessary, and I would have loved the book more if they were left out. But, other than that, this autobiography was an interesting read.

I didn't know a lot about the Midwest because I have no family there. So it was fun to learn about the environment and how people survived during the Great Depression and World War II. This is how Campbell described the small town of Junction, Texas:

"There was no hurry, no violence, and no worry in Junction. Voice were not raised except at mules and dogs. Whatever anger, illness or sadness that resided below the surface only jumped out now and then, like a fish cleaving the surface of a smooth running river. One jump, one splash and it was gone into the deep once more. I used Junction like medicine..."

I do have to agree with Campbell about small towns. There is such a peace to them that really does heal the soul. Even though there were several sad accounts in the autobiography, the author was able to lift you by giving you some words of wisdom.

My favorite quote in the autobiography was:

"Home became my people, not places. No house, no town, no part of the country could every lay claim to me. I carry my home with me, inside my memory, which is nice because I can live anywhere, feel at ease, be at home wherever I happen to be - like a turtle."

You can buy a copy Always Going at Amazon. For more information about this book and other books by Gwen Campbell, please visit SoloPress II.


I hope you enjoy this autobiography by Gwen Campbell!

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