"Jessica Friedmann's essay collection Twenty-Two Impressions sheds novel light on the potential of the tarot to guide how people move through and experience life . [these] essays draw connections between the cards and broader concepts, world events, and personal experiences . Friedmann is an honest narrator who acknowledges and relates to spiritualism skeptics . A misunderstood cultural phenomenon is used as a window to the human experience in the personal essay collection Twenty-Two Impressions." -- Foreword Reviews "Luminous and tender, full of nuance and possibility, it is a series of personal reflections on each of the 22 cards in the major arcana . she merges memoir with instruction, historical insights with everyday observation, consideration of the cards' universal major themes with the specificity of her own circumstances, as well as wider reading into art, culture, spirituality, wellness, and shifting social attitudes around the cards. It's a lucid reminder of the 'ongoingness' of history, stories, and the self -- a meditation on the everyday magic of life and an argument for the enduring legacy of the tarot." --Mel Fulton, Books+Publishing "Enlightening .

Blending historical insights with her own warm, vulnerable perspectives, Friedmann's book will influence how each of us--novice or expert--reads and interprets the Tarot." --Holly Mortlock, Readings Praise for Things That Helped : " "Things That Helped is a beautiful book--heartfelt, fiercely intelligent, and urgent. It is a powerful affirmation of friendship, family, art, and love, and how these things might shape a life, and give it strength." --Fiona Wright, author of Small Acts of Disappearance Praise for Things That Helped : "[Jessica Friedmann has left safety behind and walked into something vast--a self, a world, on the verge of unravelling yet exhilarating and full of love. This book runs deep and wide. It's alive with arresting images, with thoughts too big, sometimes too dangerous, to pin down." --Maria Tumarkin, author of Axiomatic Praise for Things That Helped : "Her transportive writing will break you open and fill you anew." --Anna Spargo-Ryan, author of The Paper House.