Synopses & Reviews
There’s no guidebook for parenting during a pandemic. Sheltering at home means being yourself in front of your kids, all day every day, without the release of school or the office. Sad House is one mother’s guide to stumbling through a season of loss with humor, creativity, and hope.
When Laura Stanfill’s best friend was killed by the virus in April 2020, her daughters experienced her grief at close range. They asked questions. They brought her treats. And when she didn’t stop crying, they admitted frustration and begged her to be happy. Over the next several months, with storytelling and art, gardening and games, Laura found her imperfect way through deep grief — just in time to weather a second major loss. Through Laura experimenting with her own creativity, Sad House offers a guide for family resilience, growth, and how small, shared joys can sustain a household in difficult times.
Review
"Laura Stanfill's Sad House chapbook exquisitely dissects a slim slice of her life. Trying to navigate the practically impossible task of juggling homeschooling, family, and work during a pandemic becomes even more untenable when her best friend dies of COVID. She's wracked with grief and has no idea how to integrate this into her life. Trying to process her grief through art, gardening, baking, and assigning herself tasks, she walks a crooked line between family and self. The arguments, the giving up, the unknowing, the 10 minutes of peace while locked in the bathroom, the smallest of victories: it's all pure heart work, and she flies blindly through it. Stanfill's ability to be vulnerable in front of her children is a thing of beauty, and I can only imagine the profound gift she is giving her daughters by living through this in front of them. Beautifully done, Sad House is a tiny jewel." Dianah H., bookseller
About the Author
Laura Stanfill is a neurodivergent novelist, essayist, award-winning journalist, and the publisher of Forest Avenue Press, which she founded in 2012. She has earned a scholarship to the Yale Publishing Course from the Independent Book Publishers Association, a residency at Mineral School, and a publishing fellowship from Literary Arts. Her essay “Birdsong in the Key of Brain Injury” was a finalist for the Anne C. Barnhill Prize. Recent work has appeared in The Rumpus, Big Other, Passengers Journal, The Nasiona, TAB Journal, Stonecoast Review, Paragon Press, Longridge Review, and the acclaimed anthology Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (Central Avenue). She believes in indie bookstores and wishes on them like stars.
Laura Stanfill on PowellsBooks.Blog
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