Tuesday, August 31, 2010

"An Exact Replica..."

I just finished reading "An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination" by Elizabeth McCracken. I bought it after reading the post from a BLM blog about how much she enjoyed the book and felt connected to the author.

I have to admit, the first two or three chapters were very hard for me to follow. She is living in France at the time of her son's stillbirth with her European husband. So there was a little bit of dialogue that was difficult for me to follow (and the fact that they named their baby Pudding), but once I got past that, this book consumed me and I loved Pudding too.

Here are a few entries from it that I found particularly moving and could relate with very well:

"I thought stillbirth was a thing of history, and then it happened to me, and yet now when I hear of a baby dying I'm just as incredulous. You mean they still haven't figured this out?"

"I want to hear about every dead baby, everywhere in the world. I want to know their names, Christopher, Strick, Jonathon. I want their mothers to know about Pudding. The dead don't need anything. The rest of us could use come company."


"When I returned for every successive appointment, the pregnant women in the waiting room made me sad: there they sat in the present, dreaming of the future. I couldn't bear watching. I wanted a separate waiting room for people like me, with different magazines. No Parenting or Pregnancy, no ads with pink or tawny or pearly smiling infants. I wanted Hold Your Horses Magazine. Don't Count Your Chickens for Women."

I've also found great comfort in the books Still by Stephanie Cole and Waiting With Gabriel by Amy Kuebelbeck.

What books have you read that helped with your grief or at the very least - reassured you that you weren't completely alone in this? My Amazon account is open and waiting for suggestions.

6 comments:

Wyatt's Mommie said...

Great post!!! I will be dropping back by to see what books are recommended... Opening my Amazon account now... LOL

rebecca said...

Thanks for the info, I purchased that book recently and am planning to read it soon! I read I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief & Joy by Angie Smith and highly recommend it. It was an excellent book!

Alissa said...

I really appreciated Life Touches Life by Lorraine Ash and Tear Soup by Pat Schweibert. Tear Soup is a generic loss book and an easy read, but totally worth reading and sharing with others. Thanks for the recommendation.

Whittney said...

I read this book and I did like it. I felt like it was honest. There is another book, I believe it's called "I Will Carry You". It is very good as well, though on the religious side.

Amanda said...

"An Exact Replica" was the first book I read after Stella died. It really spoke me because it didn't get into religion which has been a tough thing for me lately. And the author really does like to hear about other babies. I emailed her when I finished the book and she wrote back asking all about Stella.

Anonymous said...

I just adore that book, it brought me so much comfort to hear the same dark thoughts I was feeling/thinking. I'll have to check out the others!