Journey in the Middle of the Road: One Woman's Path Through a Midlife Education Horror Book Review

I read this extraordinary book in a single morning, and couldn’t put it down. The story Muriel Murch has to tell is in itself fascinating, but more than that, using the simple story-telling device of personal letters, she has succeeded in making the people around her live, and has created a vivid world in which the reader for a time—- for much longer than the reading of the book lasts, because it has a powerful resonance—- lives too. She made me care very much, not only about about her desire for nursing education and her major personal dilemmas, but also about the details and concerns of her everyday life. This book is both humane and very human. It is sensitively written, conveying strong emotions but without self-indulgence or pretension, treading the fine line that memoir-writing must tread, its transparent honesty always ensuring that it remains on the right side. It treats of life and death, of love and family and of the struggle for knowledge. It is often poetic but also stunningly down-to-earth—- a true reflection, one feels, both of the realities of the profession of nursing, and of the remarkable character of the writer as the reader gets to know her. Classroom fears and conflicts, family closeness and discord, deep satisfactions and as deep frustrations—- all remain in the memory, touching and thought-provoking. This many-faceted book is about learning, but it has a great deal to teach.