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happiestwhenreading 's review for:
The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After
by Julie Yip-Williams
Whew...this book was a doozy. It came out several years ago and I know so many of my bookish friends really enjoyed it. I also knew I would too as soon as I could gather the courage up to tackle it. I put this on my #23in23 list because I wanted to prioritize it.
Julie Yip-Williams has quite the life story - born blind in Vietnam, her grandmother encouraged her parents to take her to a local herbalist to have her euthinized (yes, you read that correctly). Fortunately, the herbalist refused and her relieved parents returned home with her. They then escaped Vietman on a sinking boat and eventually made their way to America. After life-changing surgery on her eyes, Yip-Williams was able to partially see. She became a lawyer and landed a job in NYC at a law firm, met and fell in love with her husband, and had two daughters. Then, she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.
Her book is ultimately a love letter to her girls. It details her life and gives them something to look back on and read as they grow up. I absolutely love and adore the time and dedication it took to leave this tangible legacy behind for her kids. As someone who has lost her mother to cancer, there are so many times I wish I could read something to learn more about her. When I was younger, I didn't think to ask those questions, so this whole project is remarkable to me.
The book was published posthumously with her husband writing the last chapter. I was a puddled mess on the floor when I finished. Really, everthing about this book is just so beautiful. A lot of Yip-Willimas' procedures were similar to my moms, so the cancer journey really brought up a lot of emotions for me. There were some parts that got a little long and dense, so detailed that I would find myself drifting.
But overall, probably mostly because of my own personal experience with the subject of the book, I really loved this one.
Julie Yip-Williams has quite the life story - born blind in Vietnam, her grandmother encouraged her parents to take her to a local herbalist to have her euthinized (yes, you read that correctly). Fortunately, the herbalist refused and her relieved parents returned home with her. They then escaped Vietman on a sinking boat and eventually made their way to America. After life-changing surgery on her eyes, Yip-Williams was able to partially see. She became a lawyer and landed a job in NYC at a law firm, met and fell in love with her husband, and had two daughters. Then, she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.
Her book is ultimately a love letter to her girls. It details her life and gives them something to look back on and read as they grow up. I absolutely love and adore the time and dedication it took to leave this tangible legacy behind for her kids. As someone who has lost her mother to cancer, there are so many times I wish I could read something to learn more about her. When I was younger, I didn't think to ask those questions, so this whole project is remarkable to me.
The book was published posthumously with her husband writing the last chapter. I was a puddled mess on the floor when I finished. Really, everthing about this book is just so beautiful. A lot of Yip-Willimas' procedures were similar to my moms, so the cancer journey really brought up a lot of emotions for me. There were some parts that got a little long and dense, so detailed that I would find myself drifting.
But overall, probably mostly because of my own personal experience with the subject of the book, I really loved this one.