Reader Reviews

For Once In My Life is nothing shy of a labor of love and loyalty. Rob Cole writes with a tenderness that never wavers as he brings forward the extraordinary life of Arlinda Willis. Willis, a Black woman whose indomitable spirit carried her from Jim Crow Alabama to the Rust Belt, the Midwest, and the California coast, recounts a full vibrant life story. She is a force of nature on the page, and Cole honors her with a narrative that’s both intimate and expansive.

This memoir works as a coming‑of‑age story, starting with a young girl’s attempt to make sense of the adults’ anguish in the wake of civil rights violence and her own sense of abandonment. But it also unfolds as a sweeping life journey as Arlinda moves from celebrity dancer within reach of Stevie Wonder, to beauty pageant queen, to a woman bold enough to jump out of airplanes.

Running alongside that story, though, is a second timeline that is devastating and detailed. Cole documents what can only be described as a textbook case study in the healthcare system’s failure of Black women. Willis’ dismissed pain, minimized symptoms and inequitable access is an indictment of a broken system. It’s brutal, honest, and necessary. And because Cole writes from a place of profound love, the critique lands even more sharply. His loyalty to Arlinda is palpable; his insight into her perspective is remarkable.

This memoir asks one of the oldest university questions we carry: Why am I here? It causes readers to take a moment to pause, breathe, and sit with gratitude.

A powerful, resonant read with five stars from me.

Everyone deserves to feel special. I was an early beta reader “For Once in My Life” and even in its manuscript infancy, it was a wonderful story to read. It took me through every human emotion I can think of with incredible delicacy and finesse during a time of racial bigotry and inequality that was often so cruel and insensitive. It follows Arlinda’s life beginning at eleven years of age.

The story unfolded, grew and flowed. True stories tend to grip me and as I travelled through the chapters, I constantly wanted to know more.
Arlinda and Rob’s relationship resonated with me… to love someone who had such an impact on his life so deeply was the thread that ran through the story and touched my heart. It’s a story and a woman worth remembering.

Arlinda was an interesting woman and I would have enjoyed knowing her as we have a very similar sense of humor. I found myself laughing at things she and her friends found humorous and crying at the tragedies and roadblocks in her life. She may not have thought so, but she was truly a strong woman and I respect that. She was special… more than once. This book is a “must read.”