|
|
|
|
||
|
HELP | |
|
  $12.95 List price:
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Comfort: A Journey through Griefby Ann Hood
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:A moving and remarkable memoir about the sudden death of a daughter, surviving grief, and learning to love again. In 2002, Ann Hood's five-year-old daughter Grace died suddenly from a virulent form of strep throat. Stunned and devastated, the family searched for comfort in a time when none seemed possible. Hood — an accomplished novelist — was unable to read or write. She could only reflect on her lost daughter — "the way she looked splashing in the bathtub...the way we sang 'Eight Days a Week.'" One day, a friend suggested she learn to knit. Knitting soothed her and gave her something to do. Eventually, she began to read and write again. A semblance of normalcy returned, but grief, in ever new and different forms, still held the family. What they could not know was that comfort would come, and in surprising ways. Hood traces her descent into grief and reveals how she found comfort and hope again — a journey to recovery that culminates with a newly adopted daughter. Review:"The first six pages of this wrenchingly honest memoir of Hood's daughter's death and its aftermath read like a tightly controlled scream. All the platitudes, the dozens of words of comfort that people offer — 'time heals,' 'she is in a better place' — are interspersed with Hood's silent, furious responses to these 'lies,' with special scorn for those who say, 'Are you writing this down?' The death of her five-year-old Grace in 2002 was completely unexpected: an ordinary strep throat somehow ravaged the organs of her small body. Hood (The Knitting Circle) takes readers through the slow, jagged steps of dealing with grief. Unable to write, she first took refuge in endless knitting, then got a tattoo on Grace's sixth birthday. Hiding from the Beatles' songs her daughter had loved, she found them so ubiquitous that she could finally listen only to talk radio. Grace's little shoes stood sentinel at the top of the stairs and three years passed before Hood could bear to clean her room. But there is redemption at the end of this short, anguished book. Hood and her husband have a new daughter, Annabelle, adopted from China, and at last, Hood can celebrate Mother's Day, albeit with a 'strange mixture of grief and joy.'" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Book News Annotation:In 2002 novelist Hood's five year old daughter died suddenly from a
virulent form of strep throat. For a time Hood was unable to read or
write, and could only reflect on her loss. One day a friend suggested
she should learn to knit to give her something else to do. As she
learned the mechanical motions that lead eventually to an expression
of love in yarn form, Hood began to read and write again. She also
learned that although a type of normalcy could return, grief still
came in new and different forms. She traces her descent into grief
fully and reveals the people, animals and places that gave her hope
once again, including the coast of Maine, a three-legged horse,
water, birds, her knitting circle, hiding, and her newly adopted
daughter.
Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Review:"A loving tribute by turns harrowing and beautiful." Kirkus Reviews Review:"I will most likely never again eat pasta with butter and Parmesan or cucumbers cut in perfect rounds...without thinking of Ann Hood and her daughter." Los Angeles Times Review:"Akin to Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, Comfort beautifully discovers images and details to describe [Hood's] agony." Providence Journal Synopsis:Ann Hood offers a moving and remarkable memoir about the sudden death of a daughter, surviving grief, and learning to love again. About the AuthorAnn Hood is the author of nine books, including the novel The Knitting Circle. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, Tin House, and O Magazine. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 1 comment: | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Don't Miss
