Taking a Bath in the Milky Way
Through the motif of water, Barbara Gates's forthcoming book moves from blame and anger to a wider and kinder mind, in flow with life: an inner alchemy inseparable from the great shifts of war and peace in the world around us.
… the only thing separating the newborn baby’s first bath from the
cleansing of the corpse is life, fragile as a paper screen.
​
— Shikitei Sanba, Bathhouse of the Floating World
​
​
​
Beginning with the context of World War II, during which she was conceived, and her own wars against others and herself, she introduces a yearning for harmony. she takes refuge in water, which ripples through this memoir in a series of stories—in tubs, ponds, a waterfall, and the sea. With divorced parents—an agnostic Jewish mother and atheistic Protestant father—and a warring family, in bathing she finds peace and a backdoor to the life of the spirit.
Check back for updates on publication.
