Geography of Love; a Memoir by Glenda Burgess
This memoir reads like a classic romance novel. I could hardly believe that it was a true story. Have a box of tissues with you as you read it. It is what I would want to have written about me once I am gone. -- Beth
Summary of this book: This poignant exploration of the depths of the human heart and the ability to love and to trust no matter the obstacles is a reminder that "real" life is always richer--and often stranger--than fiction. [from the MCLD catalog]
Book Reviews:
Library Journal Review
First-time writer Burgess skillfully writes of how she discovered a powerful new love and broke away from her irascible, stubbornly reclusive mother. With Ken, 13 years her senior and no stranger to life's cruelties, she built a fairy-tale family life only to lose him and her mother to cancer just weeks apart. Burgess's scientifically themed prose is luminous and encompasses a strong spiritual dimension. This sweeping love story will particularly interest those who have endured similar tragedies.--EB Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly Review
Novelist Burgess's memoir of her idyllic 15-year marriage cut short by the death of her husband from cancer proves startling, memorable and deeply moving. Burgess (Loose Threads) moves backward in time before arriving at husband Ken's shattering diagnosis of lung cancer in November 2002. In the late 1980s, at age 31, she quit her job in government and moved from Washington, D.C., to Spokane, not far from her mother's eastern Washington farm. Burgess was determined to change her life and within a year had embarked on a fairy tale romance with an executive at the company she worked for, Ken Grunzweig, a twice-widowed (one of his wives was shockingly murdered) jet-setter 19 years older with a teenage daughter. Two children, a busy, prosperous life and several moves followed, until the family relocated back to Spokane before illness struck Ken. With gentle, deliberate strokes, Burgess portrays her love for her devoted, athletic husband and the seven months of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy that led to his crushing physical debilitation. Her narrative grows increasingly engrossing, yet difficult to read, as Ken, the fighter, is forced to constantly face death. Burgess's journey possesses bravery and open-eyed clarity. (Aug.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Go to the author’s website:
http://www.glendaburgessbooks.com/
This memoir reads like a classic romance novel. I could hardly believe that it was a true story. Have a box of tissues with you as you read it. It is what I would want to have written about me once I am gone. -- Beth
Summary of this book: This poignant exploration of the depths of the human heart and the ability to love and to trust no matter the obstacles is a reminder that "real" life is always richer--and often stranger--than fiction. [from the MCLD catalog]
Book Reviews:
Library Journal Review
First-time writer Burgess skillfully writes of how she discovered a powerful new love and broke away from her irascible, stubbornly reclusive mother. With Ken, 13 years her senior and no stranger to life's cruelties, she built a fairy-tale family life only to lose him and her mother to cancer just weeks apart. Burgess's scientifically themed prose is luminous and encompasses a strong spiritual dimension. This sweeping love story will particularly interest those who have endured similar tragedies.--EB Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly Review
Novelist Burgess's memoir of her idyllic 15-year marriage cut short by the death of her husband from cancer proves startling, memorable and deeply moving. Burgess (Loose Threads) moves backward in time before arriving at husband Ken's shattering diagnosis of lung cancer in November 2002. In the late 1980s, at age 31, she quit her job in government and moved from Washington, D.C., to Spokane, not far from her mother's eastern Washington farm. Burgess was determined to change her life and within a year had embarked on a fairy tale romance with an executive at the company she worked for, Ken Grunzweig, a twice-widowed (one of his wives was shockingly murdered) jet-setter 19 years older with a teenage daughter. Two children, a busy, prosperous life and several moves followed, until the family relocated back to Spokane before illness struck Ken. With gentle, deliberate strokes, Burgess portrays her love for her devoted, athletic husband and the seven months of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy that led to his crushing physical debilitation. Her narrative grows increasingly engrossing, yet difficult to read, as Ken, the fighter, is forced to constantly face death. Burgess's journey possesses bravery and open-eyed clarity. (Aug.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
Go to the author’s website:
http://www.glendaburgessbooks.com/
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