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The Unwinding of the Miracle

A Memoir of Life, Death and Everything That Comes After

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The Unwinding of the Miracle

By: Julie Yip-Williams
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

'A searing memoir ... I didn't know Julie, but in these pages I grew to love her.' Lucy Kalanithi


Born blind in Vietnam, Julie Yip-Williams narrowly escaped euthanasia at the hands of her grandmother, only to have to flee the political upheaval of the late 1970s with her family. Loaded into a rickety boat with three hundred other refugees, Julie made it to Hong Kong and, ultimately, America, where a surgeon gave her partial sight. Against all odds, she became a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family, a life. Then, at the age of thirty-seven, with two little girls still at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began.

Growing out of a blog Julie kept for the last four years of her life, The Unwinding of the Miracle is the story of a vigorous life told through the prism of imminent death, of a life lived vividly and cut too short. With glorious humour, bracing honesty and the cleansing power of well-deployed anger, her story is inspiring and instructive, delightful and shattering. More than just a tale about cancer, it's about truth and honesty, fear and pain, our dreams, our jealousies. And it's about how to say goodbye to your children and a life you love.

Starting as a need to understand the disease, it has evolved into a powerful story about living - even as Julie put her affairs in order and prepared to die.

©2019 Julie Yip-Williams (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks
Grief & Loss Personal Development Memoir
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An excellent book, a must read/hear. Julie depicts her struggle with cancer but in doing so she also reveals a much deeper dimension - the beauty and struggle of life that every human being faces. Thank you Julie for sharing your journey with us, my life is so much richer thanks to you.

A must read!

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Not for the faint hearted. This incredible woman’s ability to pull life apart to its basic parts, offering insight that lightens the perception of even the darkest situation.

Beautifully written, heart wrenchingly honest

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For anyone who is or has gone through such a time the story is heartbreakingly familiar, sad, funny and beautiful. Thank you for sharing, I feel less alone for reading it.

heartbreaking and wonderful

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