As the title suggests, this book is an introspective medley of essays that explores the author’s lifelong interest in the fine arts, a nuanced exegesis that explores her artistic style as a proponent of the self-portrait. Connell’s artwork is inextricably connected to her daily life, an appreciation of her Lutheran faith, her commitment to further human rights as an anti-racist ally, and a deep interest in psychology. Ultimately, her lifetime of service as an assistant attorney for Fulton County, Illinois State Attorney’s Office, and her avocation as a “Sunday afternoon painter” segue into the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in 2020. Connell then focuses in an epistolary style upon her family’s struggle to rally around their elderly mother, who is isolated both physically and emotionally in a nursing home. A Midwesterner, Connell has a pragmatic and transparent approach to evaluating her life and work that is reflected in her simple but striking artistic imagery in which she or her relatives and friends often appear.

Connell’s writing of this volume began in 2014, inspired by a university symposium about Midwestern women artists, many of whom might have been forgotten if it wasn’t for their dual interest in art and writing. The strongest underlying theme of Connell’s writing is her interest in self-portraits and “selfies,” a natural choice of subject for artists and writers with a tendency toward introversion and introspection. Connell’s nature as a social activist extends from discussions of racial justice and into her own experiences of discrimination by extroverts who misunderstand and misrepresent introversion as a set of behaviors that are socially unacceptable, an untenable position since as many as thirty percent of humans are introverts. Connell creates a strong, legal-like case in her narrative, championing the virtues of a socially moderate but deeply introspective life.

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