Synopsis

For fans of Natasha Trethewey and Maggie Smith, a mother-daughter story of multigenerational trauma, grief, discovery, and love, with the backdrops of an historic American tragedy and an iconic family business, written in lyrical, fragmented form.In 1960, six years before Marty Ross-Dolen was born, her maternal grandparents were killed in an airline disaster involving the collision of two commercial jets over New York City. They were traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to seek placement for their familys iconic magazine, Highlights for Children, on the newsstands. Their daughterMartys motherwas fourteen years old at the time. This genre-bending memoir tells Martys story of being raised by a mother in protracted mourning. The fragmented narrative explores Martys journey, from personal ways of coping as a child to the evolution of a mother-daughter relationship that matured over time. It is also about her longing to know her maternal grandmother, and through saved letters and photographs from her grandmothers life, she enters a fantastical relationship that serves to replace one that otherwise could never exist. Ultimately it is about the discovery of truth, in unearthing the story of her grandparents deaths and her mothers acute loss, in freeing her grandmothers image from the weight of a tragic death, and in Martys own delivery from darkness. Beyond that, it is about universal life choices, the ways human beings unknowingly determine their destinies, and the healing powers of truth and love.

About The Author

Marty Ross-Dolenis a graduate of Wellesley College and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is a retired child and adolescent psychiatrist. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Prior to her time at VCFA, she participated in graduate-level workshops at The Ohio State University. Her essays have appeared inNorth Dakota Quarterly,Redivider,Lilith, andWillow Review, among others. Her essay entitled Diphtheria was named a notable essay inThe Best American Essays series.She lives in Columbus, Ohio.

This is a standard paperback/soft cover version.