First published 2023
In June 2011, days before turning sixty-nine, Jonathan Raban sits down to dinner with his daughter and discovers he cannot move his knife to his plate. A massive hemorrhagic stroke has paralyzed the right side of his body. At the rehabilitation center, Raban relearns basic tasks like walking, bathing, and dressing himself. He struggles to accept his body's new limitations while rediscovering how to write and read. During his recovery, Raban weaves together intimate letters his parents exchanged during World War II, revealing their young love amid the chaos of war. His father fought in the trenches, from the munition-covered beaches of Dunkirk to the bloodied streets of Anzio. Raban moves between his own rehabilitation story and his parents' wartime correspondence, examining how people adapt to trauma. The book captures the warmth, strength, and humor that survive despite physical and emotional wounds, creating a story about both mourning and resilience.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, memoir, biography-memoir, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Period: World War II
336 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: medical-trauma