Notes from a Minor Key

MS World Review

Notes from a Minor Key: a Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing

by Dawn Bailiff

Published by Hampton Roads Publishing Co., Inc., 2007

Reviewed by LizOP
MSWorld Book Reviewer

Dawn Bailiff is a tiny dynamo - a powerhouse who has overcome many obstacles in her young life. I don't know her actual age but by her experiences, recounted in her book, she might be ageless. Wise beyond her years.

I met her at the 2007 NMSS Leadership Conference and she was verbal, kind, patient, bright and I found it comfortable talking with her and taking her photo for this review.

I knew she was a child prodigy on the piano and a former concert pianist but I'm glad I didn't know all her life struggles before I met her. That meant no preconceived notions would enter my head. I do know that if I were to meet her again, we would discuss her book at length.

Dawn has MS and it caused her to stop performing. She writes with a depth I seldom see in books. Her struggles to understand what was happening to her body and why performing became impossible is told in such a way that I find myself holding my breath while I read. Hoping for her understanding, wanting to see her through. But we already know she is aware of her MS at the book writing, so I breathe and keep reading.

It is written in a dialogue between her and Paul. I won't tell you more because she says it perfectly. She is brave and owns a strength from within that is powered by her faith and her search for higher meaning through her Jewish and Japanese heritage.

She is most likely a genius. Dawn speaks 5 languages fluently, has "worked as a translator and Internet marketing consultant for Fortune 500 companies, as well as a journalist, technical writer, banking officer, and college professor."

I wrote words she used I did not know on paper and looked up the meaning later, only to find some were not in my American Heritage Dictionary.

Dawn has composed an opera in German. She has "performed with most of the major symphonies and philharmonics on five continents."

When you read her book, which I hope you do, try to skip all the reviews in the beginning and head straight for the book. Read them later and you will be nodding in agreement.

Her brilliance comes across beautifully as she writes openly about the female experience using intimate details and insights. Some details surprised me but made sense later in the book.

The News Journal writes a good summation: "Edgy, confessional, nervy, dark, honest, spiritual, and validating - there are many words to describe Dawn Bailiff, but 'coward' is certainly not one of them."

For more information and to listen to a sample of her performing, check out her home page:
http://www.members.aol.com/dawnbailiff/index.htm