Rossandra White, secure in marriage to the American man of her dreams and working for the Postal Service in administration, took up writing to quiet the voices from the past back home in Africa. The result: Monkey's Wedding and Mine Dances, two young adult novels about family, race, and the dark magic of a society poised on the brink of change. And then her world fell apart when her marriage unraveled, along with a crisis back home in Africa and the worsening ill health of her beloved dog. Loveyoubye, her memoir, resulted as a way to heal the past and to face the future. She lives in Laguna Beach, California with her two Staffordshire Bull Terriers with whom she fights for space in her bed. When she's not writing, she enjoys yoga, Jazzercize, and hiking the hills behind her home in Laguna canyon.
“. . . a fascinating story about a childhood spent in an exotic
land and a family life full of secrets.”
—Kirkus
“. . . a bold and powerful voice…something we could all learn a
lesson from.”
—RedCity Review
“Rossandra White has written a captivating memoir that takes you
from the jungles of Africa to the beaches of Southern California.
Rossandra writes with heart and wisdom about being abandoned by her
husband, dealing with unresolved issues from the past and her great
love for her dog. An entertaining and ultimately uplifting
book.”
—Anita Hughes, author of Monarch Beach, Market Street, and Lake
Como
“The title Loveyoubye, captures in one word the dual themes woven
with grace and agility throughout this magnificent memoir—the
universal and often simultaneous experiences of love and loss. As
Rossandra White gathers up the pieces of her life at the
culmination of a tumultuous marriage, she travels, in real time and
in memory, from her childhood in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia),
to South Africa, to her adopted homeland in Southern California,
and her portrayals of these journeys (and the loved ones she
encounters along the way) are so clear-eyed, so perceptive and
poetic, that we, the lucky reader, would happily accompany her
anywhere in the world. And then there’s the dog, whose impact on
the author will captivate and move you as much as any human
relationship in this entertaining, profound, uplifting book.”
—Thomas White, author of Wisdom of Sons
“Maybe in the best of all possible worlds, all you need is love,
but, as White reminds us in her very affecting memoir, reality is
much more complicated. Any woman who has stayed in a marriage, or
relationship, longer than she should have, will see herself in
these pages. Anyone with half a heart will be touched by White’s
guilt over a disabled brother left behind in South Africa when she
came to America and whom she does her best to care for,
long-distance. Then there’s the dog, Sweetpea, a Staffie, love at
first sight for White. No surprise that a woman whose formative
years were informed by a baboon named Archie, a Vervet monkey named
Jo-Jo, and a tiny pop-eyed nocturnal creature named Little One (not
to mention the Staffies she grew up with) would find solace in the
loving devotion dogs give best. And with it, the courage to move
on.”
—Deborah Batterman, Pushcart nominee and author of Shoes Hair Nails
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