* INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER *
âStunningâŠheartrendingâŠthis yearâs When Breath Becomes Air.â âNora Krug, The Washington Post
âBeautiful and haunting.â âMatt McCarthy, MD, USA TODAY
âDeeply affectingâŠsimultaneously heartbreaking and funny.â âPeople (Book of the Week)
âVivid, immediate.â âLaura Collins-Hughes, The Boston Globe
Starred reviews from * Kirkus Reviews * Publishers Weekly * Library Journal *
Best Books of 2017 Selection by * The Washington Post *
Most Anticipated Summer Reading Selection by * The Washington Post * Entertainment Weekly * Glamour * The Seattle Times * Vulture * InStyle * Bookpage * Bookriot * Real Simple * The Atlanta Journal-Constitution *
The New York Times bestseller by poet Nina Riggs, mother of two young sons and the direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, is âa stunningâŠheart-rending meditation on lifeâŠIt is this yearâs When Breath Becomes Airâ (The Washington Post).
We are breathless but we love the days. They are promises. They are the only way to walk from one night to the other.
Poet and essayist Nina Riggs was just thirty-seven years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancerâone small spot. Within a year, she received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal.
How does a dying person learn to live each day âunattached to outcomeâ? How does one approach the moments, big and small, with both love and honesty? How does a young mother and wife prepare her two young children and adored husband for a loss that will shape the rest of their lives? How do we want to be remembered?
Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, Nina asks: What makes a meaningful life when one has limited time? âProfound and poignantâ (O, The Oprah Magazine), The Bright Hour is about how to make the most of all the days, even the painful ones. Itâs about the way literature, especially Ninaâs direct ancestor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and her other muse, Montaigne, can be a balm and a form of prayer.
Brilliantly written and exceptionally moving, itâs a âdeeply affecting memoir, a simultaneously heartbreaking and funny account of living with loss and the specter of death. As Riggs lyrically, unflinchingly details her reality, she finds beauty and truth that comfort even amid the crushing sadnessâ (People, Book of the Week).
Tender and heartwarming, The Bright Hour âis a gentle reminder to cherish each dayâ (Entertainment Weekly, Best New Books) and offers us this important perspective: âYou can read a multitude books about how to die, but Riggs, a dying woman, will show you how to liveâ (The New York Times Book Review, Editorâs Choice).