Berkeley Street, Cambridge is riveting. This book looks at recent American history as lived by a vital, intelligent and thoughtful woman. Hers is a life of engagement, a commitment to meaning and to survival of humanity at its best. Sheldon's vantage point is that of a wife and devoted mother, but also as a member of Berkeley Street, her larger neighborhood and community. She works for positive change and she reflects on the many cultural influences that have shaped her. In this extraordinary memoir of a unique time and place you will find steadfast love, the role that alcohol and drugs played, family mental illness, the changing role of women, literature, art, politics - against a background of family loyalty and obligation. Berkeley Street, Cambridge, and its author, Sayre Sheldon, remind us of a time when we still felt we could make a difference. - Kathleen Spivack - With Robert Lowell and His Circle. University Press of New England. 2012, Unspeakable Things. Alfred A Knopf. 2016