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Check for Availabilityout of stock. Click on the button below to search for this title in other formats.  The Book of Kehls
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:When Bridget Moore left Ireland in 1865, she never suspected that along with her trunk and rosary beads, she was bringing Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy to New York City. It wasn't until Bridget was a grandmother, one who had buried four of her grandsons, that she realized she'd brought MD to the States, a disease that would haunt her family for generations. Years later, her great-grandchildren grew up under the elevated trains of Jackson Heights, Queens--and one of them was Christine Kehl O'Hagan, the author of this moving and insightful memoir. Christine, her sister Pam, and their brother Richie played in the streets and attended mass every Sunday. But Richie had trouble walking. By the time he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, Christine learned that two of her mother's brothers--uncles she'd never known about--had died of MD. Christine eventually married and had a healthy son. But one day she saw her second boy, Jamie, struggle to climb onto the school bus--and she knew knew then and there that this disease would be with her the rest of her life. Extraordinarily written, with much honesty and humor, The Book of Kehls is the engaging story of a family that has known love, courage, and heartbreak in equal measure--and survived. Review:"'Don't you feel so guilty passing it on?' O'Hagan asks another mom who's also passed fatal Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to her son. It's 'God's will,' the woman answers, but in spite of O'Hagan's Catholic upbringing, she finds little comfort in the thought that God would want to afflict innocent boys. O'Hagan lays out the basics of DMD: one in 4,000 males are born with the hereditary disease, passed via a faulty X gene. Females can be asymptomatic carriers, but if they pass a faulty X to a male offspring, he'll end up with DMD. O'Hagan's brother, son and two nephews were all born with no apparent symptoms, but the DMD was undeniable when the boys had trouble walking and climbing stairs, and kept falling down. O'Hagan watched her parents care for and then bury her only brother; when she realized she'd passed DMD to her own son, her grief was almost unbearable. Still, she stayed with him continually until his death at 24. Though missing him tremendously, O'Hagan worked through her anguish and learned how to live like a 'regular' person. O'Hagan's story is extremely depressing, her pain raw and messy. Though marketed as a memoir, this is really a disease/grief book. While the book may resonate with parents of children with other similar illnesses, memoir readers lured by the book's Irish-Catholic title should look elsewhere. Agent, Ann Rittenberg. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.) Synopsis:A luminous memoir about five generations of an Irish-American family whose fate was shaped by muscular dystrophy. About the AuthorChristine Kehl O'Hagan is also the author of the novel Benediction at the Savoia. She was born and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, and now lives with her husband on Long Island. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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