One to One

One to One is a small book but big in narrative scope and rich in substance. It is a collection of ten brief stories about individuals-and one dog-who stand out vividly in the kaleidoscope of indelible memories spanning the author's long career in social work.

Movingly and without sentimentality the book captures the quiet and poignant drama, both internal and situational, that unfolds in these vignettes. They are about men, women, and in two cases, children, varied in background and circumstances, struggling in their unique ways with daunting problems.

The book casts a secondary spotlight on social work, a profession that the author calls "so challenging, so rewarding, and so under-celebrated." In each of the stories the author as social worker is both narrator and participant in the "one to one" relationship, and her helping role has its own share of drama. In the earlier stories she effectively recreates herself as a young woman, enthusiastic in her profession, learning to discipline her feelings lest they intrude unprofessionally in situations that stir her to the core.

The introduction has a story of its own-a cameo piece about Eleanor Roosevelt, during the author's student days. Today's interest in the World War II era, in which several of the stories take place, gives One to One a special timeliness.

Identities have been disguised to protect confidentiality. Although these are real people and their true stories the author felt compelled to classify the book as fiction because dialogue was freely reconstructed and other fictional threads were woven into it to cover flaws in memory and add color to details.

This book by an octogenarian author is absorbing entertainment for the general reader, with undoubtedly special appeal for those working in human services.