Gifts from Time and Place

Janette Catherine Stone (Byron) has always held a rebellious perspective on life. When she was a college student, she often skipped class choosing instead to show American servicemen on R&R from Vietnam around her childhood home of Sydney, Australia. Stone intuitively understood that these soldiers needed someone to talk to and someone to write to once they went back to their lives in a war they didn't always fully comprehend.

This emphasis on human connection forms the basis for many of the stories included in Stone's fascinating new collection. Many of the vignettes are about the people she has met on her various travels. Some honor the soldiers she met in Sydney so many years ago. Stone offers a tribute to their legacy while describing the differences they made in her own life.

From personal anecdotes about the challenges of motherhood (although Stone wouldn't have it any other way) to the extraordinary survival of a remarkable Canadian missionary in China to the grief that comes with the death of a beloved dog to insightful travel essays about her adventures in Spain and Brazil, Stone's stories cover a wide range of the human experience. She perfectly captures the heart and spirit of both the places she visits and the ones she calls home.