Naked: This is My Story. . . This is Our Song. . .

Leslie Masters, MD
AuthorHouse (2010)
ISBN 9781452015767
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (06/10)


Upon first glance, the front and back cover of the book “Naked” immediately attract your attention because the author has carefully posed her torso without any clothes.  The title “Naked” provides her with some privacy yet is still eye catching. Upon second glance you notice the huge scars on her body.  You immediately know that her story will involve those scars because there is no way that a life can be lived without being drastically affected by them.

Dr. Masters not only bares her scars, but she bares her soul to us by telling the story of her life.  She admits the parts where she fell down and talks about how she pulled herself back up.  As I read, I noticed that she would take us into “the box” with her, so that we could share her experiences feeling like we were there first hand.  Then she takes us outside of the box, and reflects upon lessons she learned from what she went through. I admire her so much and am incredibly grateful that she was willing to share so much with people whom she will never meet.  I feel this way, because her reflections on things that took her to places where she was imperfect, really made me think about my own life and how I could apply what I was learning from her to help with my own healing.

The part that had the most impact on me was in the section written about forgiveness.  I have had some areas of my life that while for the most part I feel that I have gotten past them, I have not been able to totally forgive and forget.  While I have been able to forgive a lot, I have not been able to allow myself to forget.  Dr. Masters explains why she feels that forgetting is essentially not good for us and unnecessary for moving on. I totally agree with what was written and felt some relief at understanding why I could let the emotional aspects of my situations go, but not the memories. 

As I was reading, “Naked,” I had some really, really horrible events occur in my life over a period of several days. One involved somebody kidnapping and abusing one of my favorite dogs. He was returned via the local police department after they had a vet patch him up.  A couple of days later he is still unable to walk.  I give this as an example, because it was an experience that totally clouded my ability to think clearly and it also filled me with an incredible amount of hatred.  This is an emotion that I tried to avoid. In spite of the events that were happening around me, none of which seemed to be in my control, I continued to read “Naked,” just in shorter sections. 

As I was reading about how Dr. Masters dealt with incredibly traumatizing situations that were out of her control, I realized that in spite of what happens around me, I still have control over how I handle the situation and can make appropriate choices that will allow me to have a better outcome in the long run. This is the biggest lesson that I learned in this book. I am sorry that the author had to suffer so much pain herself, but I hope that it will help her to know that she will be touching many lives by telling her story.  I highly, highly recommend this novel, “Naked,” and recommend that the readers journal their thoughts and emotions as they go through each section.

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