Visit Jude's Place
Reviews of Formerly Brandewyne
by Jennifer Chapman, Alcor - Reaching for Tomorrow, Volume 22:2 2nd Qtr. 2001 edition

          At the end of the twentieth century, Brandewyne Parker is a successful businesswoman struggling with the typical difficulties of being middle-aged and single.  Over the years, she has gained more weight and wrinkles than she would prefer but she has also gained an unwavering devotion to advancing her career.  Although the achievements of her professional status are rewarding, the ongoing battle to overcome discriminatory behavior and earn the respect of her colleagues has left Brandewyne questioning whether intellectual equality will ever be a reality during her lifetime -- or was she just born in the wrong century?
          With the life of her character drastically changed by a tragic accident, the author of Formerly Brandewyne, Jude Liebermann, introduces her readers to an imaginative world in the year 2078.  As can be expected, there are advanced modes of transportation and communication to explore as well as economic and social changes to consider. However, it is the unique perspective of her character that makes this publication most intriguing.
          With the memories and experiences of a 39-year-old woman, Brandewyne finds herself in the body of a teenager.  From fear and anger to excitement and curiosity, the character undergoes a range of emotions as she confronts the reality of her existence.  Likewise, the reader is faced with a series of compelling questions as the implications of the plot are revealed.  How can a person be alive if she is able to visit her own gravesite?  Can a person change so much that she ceases to be herself?  Is a clone a separate individual from the DNA donor if she has the exact same memories?  When reading this book, did you think of Brandewyne before and after her death as being two different people? If you accept her as the same person, then you must also accept that she is simultaneously both alive and dead.
          Overall, the storyline of Formerly Brandewyne is both entertaining and easy to follow.  Being a love story, it will likely be more appealing to female readers.  However, the scenarios presented in this book could easily spark an interesting discussion between a variety of participants.  Certainly, this book is particularly beneficial reference for those individuals who are uncertain about how to introduce their spouse or friends to the concept of clinical cryopreservation.  Even if cryostasis is not immediately embraced after reading this book, the reader will certainly gain an enhanced appreciation for the many interesting aspects of life it brings to light. 
          Reading the book from cover to cover only takes a couple of hours.  So why not spend an afternoon enjoying this heartfelt novel created by the imagination of Jude Liebermann?

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by Art Giberson, Gosport Managing Editor, July 2, 1999 (Click on Art's name to visit his website)

Former Navy Woman pens futuristic love story

"...[Jude] Liebermann has been writing romance novels since she was 18 years old.  Her first published novel, "Formerly Brandewyne" (Lee Books, Jacksonville) was written while she was stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Navy.
          However, it wasn't until several years after she had left the Navy that she joined that small, but elite, group known as "published authors."
          Despite the fact that "Formerly Brandewyne" is her first published book, it has everything one would expect of a seasoned novelist:  mystery, death defying medical procedures, a kidnapping, cross-country flight to evade police and nosy government officials, and of course, romance.
          The heroine, Brandewyne Parker, is a successful career woman struggling with the pressures of being one of only a few female executives in a major company, and coming to grips with the fact that she is about to turn 40.
          After being pressured to attend the last New Year's Eve party of the 20th century by her closest friend Dr. Nancy Thorgood, a research scientist on the verge of a major breakthrough in cryonics, Brandewyne is on her way home from the party when her automobile is hit head on by a speeding car.
          When Brandewyne finally awakens from a deep coma, she discovers that the world she had known before the accident is a thing of the past -- the far distant past.
          The year is now 2078.  Brandewyne Parker, make that the former Brandewyne Parker has been asleep--or dead--for 78 years.
          Without giving away too much of a great story, let it suffice to say that after coming out of the coma, Brandewyne discovers that despite the fact that she still thinks like the middle-aged executive who left the New Year's Eve party on Dec. 31, 1999, her body is that of a wowan half her age at the time of the accident.
          To add yet another bizarre twist to this intriquing tale, her attending physician is the grandson of her dear friend, Dr. Thorgood--who, incidentally, is still practicing at the young age of 118.
          The world, as the former Brandewyne Parker knew it, no longer exists.  In the year 2078 there is total equality between the sexes including coed public restrooms.
          After being abducted by government officials for studying after they learn that Brandewyne is actually the result of a cloning and cryonics experiment, Brandeywne, with the assistance of her physician boyfriend, Dr. Grey Brentwood, flee Los Angeles for Pensacola.
          As in the rest of the world, Pensacola of the 2070's has changed, but familiar names such as Cordova Mall, Sacred Heart Hospital and the Pensacola News Journal still prevail.
          "Formerly Brandewyne" is an excellent story which will keep the reader spell-bound from cover to cover..."

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Andrew Andrews, True Review, April 2000

          "In a story as old as time, Brandewyne Parker, MBA, dies in an auto accident just before the new year of 2000, only to be frozen and revived later, years since the accident that, apparently, caused her death.  It's a completely familiar story - if a person dies, freeze them and later, when a cure for their problem is discovered, bring them back.  But instead of freezing her beaten and paralyzed body, they simply keep her brain intact and clone her body, replacing the brain in the cloned body.
          I like this version of the ageless story, however, because FORMERLY BRANDEWYNE has a wryness, a playfulness about it that mixes a little bit of SF [science-fiction] and romance (SF romances are a category barely charted).  Brandewyne changes her name, in her new life decades beyond the accident, to simply Brandy.  She falls in love.  She tries to have a new life in a new world...
          BRANDEWYNE is a quick, easygoing read, so if you're looking for something light and lighthearted, ...check it out."