Reviews of My Stories

Ann Best’s moving, inspiring, and candid memoir, In the Mirror, a memoir of shattered secrets, is a simply told yet eloquent story of a woman whose mortal journey takes her through a series of life-shattering crises, each of which could break any one of us. An idealist and a dreamer, shaken by something amiss in her marriage, she turns to a brief flirtation with another man but quickly retreats, remaining faithful to her gay husband who is already acting out his choices with others. Then, the marriage ends and the silent heartbreak and ordeals continue as this mother of four struggles to provide for her children; a mother endowed with a “stiff upper lip” and a strong faith in herself and God that give her the ability to endure and prevail. Her mirror of well-intended choices becomes a cautionary tale about how bad choices shatter, crack and distort one’s own and others’ mirrors and lives. It may not have been the story Ann Best had hoped to write, but it is the actual story of how she coped–and triumphed–on “this fallen world” we call Earth. ~Richard H. Cracroft, Nan Osmond Grass Professor Emeritus; Author/Editor of numerous books and articles; Chair, BYU English Department; Dean, College of Humanities.
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How privileged I feel to have been invited along on Ann Best’s trip through her life. She portrays herself, and those who shared her journey, with unflinching honesty. That’s no easy task for the memoirist. Her paucity of description and her generous use of dialogue kept the story moving. Ultimately, I was left awed by the resiliency of this author’s spirit. In the Mirror is a must-read for anyone who thinks they can’t handle what life offers. Eternity is a long, long time. Ann Best has a firm grasp on its tail, and I don’t expect she will ever let go. ~Diane Marcou, Editor; Author, The Smuggler’s Ghost.
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The quality that rings true through Ann Best’s memoir is its fundamental honesty. Her spare yet gently compelling prose lays bare the thoughts and feelings of a woman left to deal with the aftermath when she discovers that her husband–the father of her children–is gay. By the time we’ve finished traveling with Ann Best on her personal journey of thirty-odd years, we feel that we’ve made a new and valued friend. ~Jonathan Langford, Author, No Going Back.
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This skillfully written page turner, first novel of award-winning poet and story writer Ann Best, is a courageous memoir of loss and pain that affirms our ability to recover, survive, and move on. ~Maureen Derrick Keeler, Professor of English and Literature at Brigham Young University, University of Washington, and UCLA Extension.
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In the Mirror is a frank and engaging memoir, one in which the author, with a gift for understatement and quiet but powerful prose, recalls her dramatic life with an in-your-face honesty that gut-punches the reader. ~Steve Walker, Author, The Power of Tolkien’s Prose and Seven Ways of Looking at Susanna.
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The sequential tragedies in this memoir seem almost impossible for one person to bear. The author encounters more tragedies and carries more burdens on her small body than most of us will ever know in our lifetimes, yet with each blow she finds ways to move forward, often with help from friends, occasionally through miracles. She portrays all of the “characters” so realistically that they are likable even in their weaknesses. The writing is brilliant, the dialogue natural and unforced. She portrays her experiences with such skill that I suspect readers who have never experienced a gay or alcoholic husband or a brain-injured daughter will be able to relate to her as she struggles to provide a stable center for her children in the midst of chaos. ~Colleen K. Whitley, Retired English Professor; Editor, Brigham Young’s Homes; Co-editor, The Silver Queen, Worth Their Salt, Worth Their Salt, Too, and From the Ground Up: The History of Mining in Utah (Utah State University Press).
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Ann Best knows how to tell a story. And tell it well. Memoir is not for the faint of heart. Especially memoir dealing with being a Mormon and having a homosexual spouse. There were so many times Ann could have gone astray with this story because there are so many facets to it. But she didn’t. She held true to the idea of memoir, which is to follow one thread of your life and not try to deal with all of your life. Ann did that brilliantly.

She follows the thread of first meeting and falling in love with her husband, Larry, through the first years of their marriage and having children, to the discovery of his affairs with men. The memoir covers hers and Larry’s attempts to save their marriage until it finally disintegrates and Ann is faced with being the single parent of four children.

If that wasn’t enough to deal with, two of Ann’s children are involved in an automobile crash that severely injures one daughter and permanently disables the other. Memoir is meant to teach us about life. By reading another’s story, we are able to empathize with and perhaps learn from their circumstances and choices.

In the Mirror allows us to do both–empathize and learn; not an easy task for the memoirist. But Ann Best is a brilliant writer and she captured my heart with her soul-wrenching story. ~ Karen Walker, Author of Following the Whispers, A Memoir.
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I never really read memoirs until these last two years because I always thought fiction would be more exciting. How wrong I was. Seriously, I couldn’t put this book down–I read it in two days. Ann has a way with words. She made the most mundane, everyday life seem interesting. It’s a memoir so don’t expect happy endings or even closure but expect it to make you look at your life and your choices. Expect it to make you see how your life and your marriage choices can impact your children. ~Clarissa Draper, Author of The Scholes Key.
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A compelling and candid read with great prose, I enjoyed this inspirational book and would highly recommend it. ~ Kim Michele Richardson, Author of The Unbreakable Child
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Ann writes courageously with a clean, clear style that keeps the reader engaged with its simple honesty and moving dialog. In addition to her captivating life story, Ann surprised and educated me about the strength of the Mormon community and the tenets of the faith which include the powerful role of the Bishops in individuals’ lives. ~ Christine Grote, Author of Dancing in Heaven: A Sister’s Memoir

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