The Grammar of Untold Stories
Sixteen essays - ranging from lyric essays to narrative journalism - address how we make sense of what we cannot know, how we make change in the world, how we heal, and how we know when we are home. Collectively, these essays convey the longing for agency and connection, particularly among women. They will resonate with readers of all ages, but perhaps especially with women in the second half of life, those dealing with aging parents, retirement, illness, and accompanying vulnerabilities. Here readers will find comfort within keen reflection upon life's ambiguities.
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Lois Ruskai Melina is the editor of Adopted Child newsletter and serves on the board of directors of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of information about adoption and providing guidance for practice and policy change in the field. Melina speaks frequently about adoption to professional organizations and adoptive parents throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. She is the author of Making Sense of Adoption and the coauthor of The Open Adoption Experience.
" . . . brilliantly illuminates the stories buried underneath the surface of history, family, work and home . . . With dazzling form and mesmerizing content, Melina brings us to the edges of self passions and discoveries, revealing the secrets we carry in our bodies for a lifetime . . . Truth and beauty on every page."
-Lidia Yuknavitch, author of The Book of Joan, a 2017 New York Times Notable Book, and The Chronology of Water, finalist for the 2012 PEN Center USA Creative Nonfiction Award
"From the opening words of this luminous book, Melina crafts prose so achingly beautiful, so touched with wonder. Each essay acts like the surface of water, inviting us to explore deeper. Family, children, infertility, and loss are just some of the issues explored in this brilliant book."
-Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Butterfly Girl and The Enchanted, longlisted for the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
"An intimate, nuanced rumination on family, work, friendship, and home, delivered in bold prose that hums with the curiosity of a true seeker."
Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light, longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award
"Full of love, loss, longing, and hope, Melina's collection is a poignant look at what it means to embark upon a quest for origins, identities, and meaning . . . Melina is intent upon tracing her own migration, and, in doing so, she offers us unflinching stories of resilience, redemption, and rebirth. Always, we are reminded of the threads of community, solidarity, and continuity that bind and keep us no matter where our journeys might lead."
-Kim Barnes, author of In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country, Pulitzer Prize finalist, and A Country Called Home, recipient of the 2009 PEN Center USA Literary Award
