Milton Public Library

Flesh & blood, reflections on infertility, family, and creating a bountiful life, N. West Moss

eng

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non fiction

Flesh & blood

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N. West Moss

reflections on infertility, family, and creating a bountiful life

Honest, warm, and witty, this memoir reads like a chat with a dear friend sharing her insight and taking us along as she heals. Complete with family stories over cocktails and a praying mantis named Claude. "I drive and say to myself, if I am dying, if this is how I die, then this is how I die." When N. West Moss finds herself bleeding uncontrollably in the middle of a writing class, she manages to drive herself to the nearest hospital. Doctors are baffled, but eventually a diagnosis-uterine hemangioma-is rendered and a hysterectomy is scheduled. In prose both lyrical and unsparing, Moss takes us along through illness, relapse, and recovery. And as her thoughts turn to her previous struggles with infertility, she reflects on kin and kinship and on what it means to leave a legacy. Moss's wise, droll voice and limitless curiosity lift this narrative beyond any narrow focus. Among her interests: yellow fever, good cocktails, the history of New Orleans, and, always, the natural world, including the praying mantis in her sunroom whom she names Claude. And we learn about the inspiring women in Moss's family-her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother-as she sorts out her feelings that this line will end with her. But Moss discovers that there are ways besides having children to make a mark, and that grief is not a stopping place but a companion that travels along with us through everything, even happiness. A remarkably honest memoir about heartache and healing, Flesh & Blood opens up a conversation with the millions of women who live with infertility and loss. Honest, warm, and witty, this memoir reads like a conversation with a dear friend, a woman sharing her vulnerabilities and confidence, her pain and loss, as she endures infertility, illness, and recovery. With self-awareness and humor, the author takes readers along as she heals by focusing on the experiences of her mother and grandmothers, the wonders of the natural world, and creating a legacy for herself. Perfect for readers of Anne Lamott and books like When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and Ladyparts by Deborah Copaken. N. WEST MOSS is the author of the story collection The Subway Stops at Bryant Park. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times, Salon, McSweeney's, and many other publications. The recipient of three William Faulkner-William Wisdom gold medals and winner of the Saturday Evening Post 's Great American Fiction Contest, she holds an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in narrative medicine from Columbia University. She works in New Jersey, where she lives with her husband. "Flesh Blood sparks and consoles. So frank and warm and full of humor, this book became a friend to me. I want to keep its tenderness and stunning wisdom always as my guide." -Jackie Polzin, author of Brood "N. West Moss is an exemplary talent. The words come alive on the page. You feel as though you are living inside this luminous book." -Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels "Remarkable . . . Delightful . . . [Moss has] an admirably light touch in describing adversity." -Minneapolis Star Tribune "The few-page chapters are warm slices of life . . . Warm and humorous writing enlivens a memoir of chronic illness and infertility." -Shelf Awareness "A moving, well-rendered portrait of the seriously ailing artist. Her careful, lovely sentences and good-humored and thoughtful observations seem to be . . . a part of her healing . . . A healing balm, this inviting memoir lights a path through grief and illness." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review "[A] powerful account of [Moss's] decades-long battle with infertility . . . In poetic language that's by turns blunt and tender, Moss chronicles how she and her husba..

adult

Flesh and blood