Send Me Someone

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAY 21, 2001

Part romantic potboiler, this memoir has a twist: the principal characters (including the author herself) believe their destinies are psychically linked. Wentworth, the sheltered daughter of a California millionaire, met her first husband, Paul von Welanetz, while touring Asia, and instantly recognized him as her soulmate; their marriage was to last 25 years, until his death from cancer. Using journal entries and flashbacks, Wentworth interweaves three narratives: the story of her romance and psychic connection to Paul, the story of her self-realization as a successful cookbook author and entrepreneur, and the story of Paul's death and her journey through grief into new love. Founder of a human potential organization (where the Chicken Soup book series got its start), Wentworth records her efforts to make the most of her own life. Each of her stories insists that with desire and determination, all obstacles can be overcome sometimes in ways so inexplicable they can be attributed only to the mysterious but highly resourceful entity New Agers like to call Spirit. The most striking example of this is Diana's belief that her second husband, Ted Wentworth, was sent by her first to comfort her. Some may find Wentworth's sense of destiny smug or implausible, but others will appreciate her tale as that of a true survivor, whose drive to create happiness and success within her life should be applauded whether she had the help of destiny or merely purpose.