Book Review; In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss; Amy Bloom

 

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss; Amy Bloom

Random House Audio - 2022

(Narrated by the author - good)

(4 hours and 49 min.)

Sometimes even when I think I need an upbeat read, I find myself drawn to darker or sadder stories -- Case in point: In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom.

After meeting in 2005, Amy Bloom and Brian Ameche married in 2007.  Both were in previous relationships but, they knew they were a match early in the relationship.  Each had friends, family and a job they enjoyed and many shared interests as well.  One day Amy began to notice subtle but odd changes in her husband, they were easy to brush off at first but, soon Brian ended up leaving the job he loved and after MRIs and various testing in 2019 was diagnosed with Alzheimers at the age of 65.

For Brian one thing was certain, he was adamant about wanting to die with dignity before his disease took him on a journey of forgetting everything and everyone that had meaning in his life.  He asked his wife to research death with dignity options for when the time was right.  

Although there are several states in the US that have so called "right to die" laws in place, the criteria is very specific and most states require that the individual's illness be terminal and that death was likely to occur within 6 months.  As a couple they decided to look into assisted suicide options in Zurich, Switzerland.  Bloom tell readers that Dignitas is the best option for US citizens who are not terminally ill if they feel the need to end their lives. After going through the application process, a required autobiography, interviews, medical reports and much more, Brian eventually meets the requirements and in January 2020 with his wife Amy by his side he ended his life. 

This memoir was a bit of an eye-opener and I'm glad I had the opportunity to listen to it.  It is not a long book and it is written in a way that is not all doom and gloom. The author has a way of infusing her wit and humor at appropriate times as she shares the story of their years together.  Many readers may shy a way from a topic such as this but, I do recommend this one.  

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

Book Review - Life Among the Savages; Shirley Jackson

 

Life Among the Savages; Shirley Jackson

Dreamscape Media - 2015 (6 hrs. 31 min)

Every October I automatically peruse a list of books available by author Shirley Jackson. Generally it's because I'm looking for a darker or creepier type of story but, this year I came across, Life Among the Savages,  and I ended up loving it. The book was originally published in 1953, the audio in 2015 is read by Lesa Lockford who did a great job.

This was written as a series of essays featuring an unnamed mother and father with two children who learn they are being evicted from their New York City apartment.  They decide to move to rural Vermont with their two children who are not yet in school.  It's the early 1950s and the family doesn't drive, but they do own thousands of books (love them already) which will need to be transported.  Both parents smoke and like their wine and while the mother tries to do it all the father seems unfazed by all that needs to get done. They end up living in an ancient house and besides getting settled, figuring out logistics in their new locale,  the youngest child has to get enrolled in kindergarten, there is shopping (without a car initially) meal preparation and more.  It's clear this woman, this family needs help.  She can't count on her hands-off husband who eventually ends up teaching a couple of classes at Bennington College, and when home spends some time writing and obsessing over his coin collection.  An attempt at hiring some part time help leads to some very funny outcomes.  If the mother isn't stressed enough, over the course of the book she gives birth to two more children.  Don't get me wrong the father came in handy when they found themselves with rodents - another hilarious event.  Book one of this bio ends shortly after the birth of the couple's fourth child.  

Are you familiar with Leave to Beaver the 1950/60s series with the Clever Family. Remember June the perfect stay-at-home mom and Ward, the dad who went to work each day, dinner was always ready, the house always perfect? Well, this family isn't like them in the least but, they were so fun to spend time with and get to know.  It's no wonder Shirley Jackson died before her 50th birthday, in her sleep, as she napped one afternoon in 1968.

Growing up in the1950s and 60s (we didn't have a car then either), I could definite relate to a few of the conundrums this family found themselves in.  I just requested book #2 of her child rearing exploits, Raising Demons from the library; it should be fun.  Have you read this one?

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

(I downloaded the audio from my public library.)