An Editorial Review of “Prepare to Come About” by Christine Wallace

Christine Wallace writes with great clarity and honesty–and at times, with humor–about weathering the highs and lows of navigating family, career, and love in her gripping memoir Prepare to Come About.

Wallace chronicles her wildly successful perinatal business that brought her accolades and awards for business achievement, along with celebrity radio and TV interviews, and other accouterments that come with the lifestyle. As the business garnered awards, it began assuming a life of its own.

Christine’s professional life skyrockets, while her family life plummets. Christine’s confesses to her readers that her children were often left to fend without their own mother as she worked to help other women become one and the conflict that she internalized. She unflinching shares the other not-so-bright sides that sometimes accompany commercial professional achievement: teenage children in crisis, endless exhausting days, family pressures, work demands, and, seemingly, black holes of chaos.

Her full-throttle lifestyle comes to a grinding halt at the zenith of her success beginning with the day she received an award at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Summit from President George W. Bush. The sharp contrasts between motherhood and professional accomplishment culminate during the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. —thousands of miles away, one of her children must be admitted to the emergency room.

As the economic tides turn, uncontrollable events broadside her business causing a devastating professional aftershock that amplifies her personal heartaches. Christine and her family struggle with a loss of control of everything in their lives. Christine struggles with her loss of identity as a successful professional, a role model, a caring mother, and a supportive spouse while she battles with the economic recession, personal depression, and, worst of all, her own loss of trust in herself and her capabilities.

The fractured family makes an unorthodox choice that pivots them all into unfamiliar waters. Their lifeline comes in the form of a tall ship named Zodiac and its enigmatic captain. Life or death challenges and unforeseen moments of wonder and awe await Christine and her family. As they venture forth together in this new venture, the family members reconnect and rebuild their lives.

This memoir illuminates the struggles and chaotic lives that many contemporary families are challenged with and then goes further. It inspires readers to look beyond society’s conventional solutions and rationalizations to plot their own course.

Prepare to Come About by Christine Wallace is a story that restores faith in the strength and love of a family and will reaffirm your belief that a life lived on one’s own terms is the truest meaning of “achievement.”