Twelve Stones: Notes on a Miraculous Journey (A Memoir)

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Twelve Stones is the story of Barbara Ilaynia, a secular Jew who worships Art and Romance, who tries to unravel the meaning of existence and make every moment a masterpiece. She lives and loves with passion, though not always with wisdom, in Parisian garrets and in Moroccan villages, in the light of Southern France and in sunny California. While embracing the drama of life and inhaling the fragrance of flowers along her path, her search is sometimes misguided by intensity and misled by intellectualism. At the zenith of her quest, Barbara discovers something even more meaningful than truth: She encounters the Source of love. Her life changing confrontation with God transforms a strong willed, sensual, tough minded individualist . . . and then her real journey begins. This book is Barbara’s altar of remembrance, built from the stones she has pocketed along her winding path. She builds this altar to honor the God of miracles.

BARBARA CAROLE a former Fulbright scholar and graduate of the University of Wisconsin with B.A. and M.A. degrees, lived in Paris for several years as a translator and editor at the Paris Review, before returning to the USA to teach French and French literature at the UCLA. Three years later she became a writer and researcher for the undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau. She has worked in advertising and marketing as a writer. Her writing has also appeared in The Paris Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Issaquah Press, The French Review, FM Magazine and elsewhere. Barbara lives near her children and grandchildren with her husband and pets on a forested mountain near Seattle.