Piece by Piece
A Life Remembered through Things Lost
Kim Danielson’s gracious memoir Piece by Piece revisits the stories behind the jewelry lost in a home robbery.
Danielson describes coming to terms with the violation of the theft in this work of appreciative reflection. Indeed, the book focuses on the loved ones and personal milestones that gave the stolen jewelry meaning—the memories that were Danielson’s real treasures. For example, a blue topaz ring from her parents was a reminder of an emotional season, turning eighteen in picturesque Littleton, Colorado, and getting ready to leave home for college. After her father helped her move to school in California, she felt out of place. Her mother saved the day, mailing new dresses that helped her to flourish away from home. It’s one of many stories demonstrating the actions of supportive family members, whose gifts were significant because of the care of those who gave them.
Danielson’s faith is another recurring theme, beginning with her little white-beaded first rosary. The emptied jewelry box recalls sad stories as well: a miscarriage, losing her mother to ovarian cancer, and losing a good friend to an unexpected suicide. The book’s illustrated definitions of jewelry types and materials are distracting, though.
These flashbacks alternate with scenes of the aftermath of the robbery. The slow pace of the police investigation proves to be a point of frustration for Danielson, who wanted answers and hoped to regain her lost items. The reactions of her husband, young sons, and the robbery’s only witness, the family’s big, friendly dog, are enlivening; an imagined scene in which the robbers have a milquetoast conversation while casing the house, then ransack the bedroom, is less so.
An intimate and appreciative memoir, Piece by Piece occasions a robbery’s aftermath to remember loved ones who were far more precious than jewels.
Reviewed by
Meredith Grahl Counts
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
