Why am I passionate about this?
As a nine-year-old I used to climb trees with a small notebook and pencil in my pocket to write down my thoughts. After writing furiously, I’d read my own words and decide no one must ever read them so I’d fold up that page as tiny as possible, then cram it into the tight nook between two branches. I felt better for having written my truth, and would climb out of the tree feeling triumphant knowing my words were in the world. Later, I’d learn that telling my truth would save me and help others, just as all these other women have done in their marvelous memoirs.
Vanessa's book list on memoirs by badass women with grit
Why did Vanessa love this book?
This one knocked me to my knees with so many poignant observations of daily life brought into sharp focus. Abigail examines the most mundane moments and polishes them into sentences you want to devour. She writes about love and life and loss with such honesty and beauty, but sprinkled with humor at just the right moment.
This book shows us what it is to be human, to lose a loved one, and how tangled time and emotions and relationships can get, but don’t be fooled, it’s layered and elevated, and honest.
1 author picked A Three Dog Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
When Abigail Thomas's husband, Richard, was hit by a car, it destroyed his short-term memory and consigned him to permanent brain trauma. He had been taking their dog, Harry, out for a walk, and Harry had come home alone. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, Rich must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life rather than abandon her husband. How she built that life is a story of great…