Reviews, ContiREnue

Selected Reviews for Searching for Here: Mapping an Unfenced Life

 

Julianne Couch's latest book is about moving and staying still, about longing to be elsewhere while also being satisfied right at home. Couch wears her wanderlust on her sleeve all the while celebrating her deep appreciation of being grounded in a loving marriage and knowing she is part of a supportive Iowa community The book was started on December 21, 2019 and was designed to chart a year of her life until the next Winter Solstice, but in a shocking surprise, Couch's life, her book, and life everywhere on the planet were overtaken and changed by Covid 19. The pandemic did take over things, but it did not overwhelm Julianne Couch. "Searching for Here" was not designed to be a "Covid 19 book" and is not a Covid 19 book. It is instead a book about meeting life's challenges, exploring new possibilities and reflecting on and surviving life's traumas. Of course, the pandemic influences the book, but the main story consists of the threads which, when weaved together in a lovely, multicolored pattern of storytelling and beautiful writing, form the fabric of the author's life. Couch has lived "everywhere" and wants to live everywhere else, yet she is happy with her home in Bellevue Iowa and her career teaching on-line classes. She exults in the love she has for her dogs, the joy of her walks through state parks, and the sheer fun of her musical parties with friends. And although she is constantly looking beyond Bellevue, she never ceases to be astounded by her special relationship with her favorite neighbor, the Mississippi River. Sunrises over the The River greet her every morning, and the bird calls she hears remind her every day that she is in a very special place. Her story focuses on her marriage to Ron, her love of her pet dogs, her music, her writing, and her public service as she works to improve her community. She is always present in Bellevue and yet is always looking elsewhere to consider whether her life's path should take her someplace else. She tells tales of her lives in Kansas City, Emporia Kansas, and Laramie Wyoming while celebrating her life in Iowa, yet she admits to spending many evenings reviewing real estate listings for everywhere but Bellevue. As the title to her book promises, she lives an unfenced life, and is serious about mapping it. This book is her map--her guide to what is next. For with Julianne Couch, there is always something next, and this book invites us all to join her in her journey.

Peter Grady, July 29, 2025​

***​

I finished "Searching" and loved it. It was a great antidote to politics for me. Your searching inquisitive mind, with its complexities and ambiguities, felt simpatico. We have lived in Portland 35 years and yet I'm still not quite a full-fledged citizen. And yet I'm definitely a part of this neighborhood. We have walked it or parts of it just about every day for 11 years and are now like the local eccentrics that everyone knows. We even get garlic and cucumbers from Elizabeth up the street and Bobby … is going to bring me his latest published poetry. And of course we have neighbors and some good friends just down the street. And yet I always look at the art residencies in weird places knowing that no way at could I manage even if they would have me. … . Thanks for writing a book that was so comforting and pleasing and thought provoking.

June O. Underwood, Portland Oregon, July 27, 2025

***

Julianne Couch has redefined the journaling genre with her latest book 'Searching for Here.' Structured around 13 months of daily reports about everyday events, each entry opens a portal to an expanded story about observations, factual reports, ruminations, and analyses of the year's events ranging from small town relationships to the grand sweep of our national and international turmoil. Blending the writing skills she has honed as a journalist, memoir author, travelogue writer, and college writing instructor, she presents an engaging tale of her search for a community that is the "right fit" for a woman with eclectic interests, multiple talents, intellectual curiosity, and an abiding restlessness. Add in her fascinating writing style, and the result is a book I devoured in a single reading.

Jerry Johnson, Rochester, Minn., August 1, 2025 

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