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Memorial Days

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Memorial Days

By: Geraldine Brooks
Narrated by: Geraldine Brooks
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About this listen

A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey to peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of  Horse.

Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz - just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy - collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.

After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha's Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at Lambert's Cove. But all of this came to an abrupt end when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf.

Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the various ways in which cultures grieve and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony's death.

A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.

*number 5 in the New York Times hardback non-fiction bestseller chart February 12th 2025©2025 Geraldine Brooks (P)2025 Hachette Audio UK
Best of 2025 Grief & Loss Personal Development Relationships Women Witty

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A very realistic book, told in a very rational but also emotional manner. A lot of aspects to ponder and meditate on because life may take many unexpected turns and we never know what one day might bring. The narration of Geraldine Brooks is excellent. I highly recommend this book.

A very realistic but also emotional book!

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This book make you appreciate your life more. It shows you how anything can change at any moment. It also honors the author’s husband and how much he meant to her. It’s so beautiful and well written.

Make you appreciate your life more

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