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thealena's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
aurelia2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
“Grief is your life as it was before, but less. A diminishing. It is a stripping away, or a hollowing out, and it hurts. There is nothing pleasurable in it, but there is a kind of purity.”
This was a difficult book to read, Tarlow's memoir is definitely written by an academic, but suffused with sentiment. There's a ruthless honesty to the writing that feels like it's peeling back the layers to expose the facts underneath. It's upfront about the limits of her memory in terms of events, and doesn't hold back on her own complicated emotions about being forced into the role of a carer. She's not afraid to unmask the darker side of the difficult times, for example at one point admitting jealousy towards cancer or MND patients who can be told a progression or end date to expect. This book feels like a labour of love in the best way. Her husband's condition shares some similarities with my mom's so the memoir often resonated personally. I really enjoyed the wider archaeological perspectives that framed the memoir, and there were multiple references to literature used for her work and similar memoirs and stories.
This was a difficult book to read, Tarlow's memoir is definitely written by an academic, but suffused with sentiment. There's a ruthless honesty to the writing that feels like it's peeling back the layers to expose the facts underneath. It's upfront about the limits of her memory in terms of events, and doesn't hold back on her own complicated emotions about being forced into the role of a carer. She's not afraid to unmask the darker side of the difficult times, for example at one point admitting jealousy towards cancer or MND patients who can be told a progression or end date to expect. This book feels like a labour of love in the best way. Her husband's condition shares some similarities with my mom's so the memoir often resonated personally. I really enjoyed the wider archaeological perspectives that framed the memoir, and there were multiple references to literature used for her work and similar memoirs and stories.
ernestmavis's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Dementia, Chronic illness, Grief, Suicide, Death, Terminal illness, and Medical content
laveena's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
The author spoke with raw, open, honest reflection of her experience as a carer of not only her husband, but also her aging mother, and her young children, while still building her career. Her expression of her experience supports a narrative where it is okay to be angry, frustrated, lonely, resentful of being a carer. These emotions are also 'normal'.
As a parent of a bio-archaelogist, this book also gave me insight and a greater understanding of this profession, theoretical and historical contex , and how it shapes our modern day experience of death, and loss.
As a parent of a bio-archaelogist, this book also gave me insight and a greater understanding of this profession, theoretical and historical contex , and how it shapes our modern day experience of death, and loss.