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Description
When every mother's worst nightmare becomes Grace's reality, she must examine her entire life -- from the wrong choices to the right mistakes.
Grace's son Jack is a miracle. At three years old, he's fighting a mysterious, deadly disease that his doctors predicted would kill him as a baby. Even though it was determined to be mitochondrial disease, the little-known illness remains a mystery to medicine. Grace has sat by his bedside every minute he has been in the hospital, questioned every diagnosis, every medicine -- even poring over medical journals and books at home late into the night. To the world, Grace's fierce dedication is the sole reason for her son's survival. But someone suspects that perhaps Jack's disease is not what it seems.
When an allegation of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is leveled against Grace, she begins to live in constant suspicion of everyone -- from the doctors and nurses surrounding her son in the hospital to her own husband. Who could possibly think that she has been purposely making her son ill to gain attention for herself?
Although her husband believes their life is exactly as it seems to the outside world, Grace knows differently. She is harboring a secret -- the adulterous affair she's having with her first love. But perhaps her biggest betrayal of all is her shameful uncertainty about whether she's chosen the right path, the right husband, the right life.
In this compelling and heartbreaking novel, critically acclaimed author Maribeth Fischer addresses how the choices we made yesterday can affect everything that lies before us.
Grace's son Jack is a miracle. At three years old, he's fighting a mysterious, deadly disease that his doctors predicted would kill him as a baby. Even though it was determined to be mitochondrial disease, the little-known illness remains a mystery to medicine. Grace has sat by his bedside every minute he has been in the hospital, questioned every diagnosis, every medicine -- even poring over medical journals and books at home late into the night. To the world, Grace's fierce dedication is the sole reason for her son's survival. But someone suspects that perhaps Jack's disease is not what it seems.
When an allegation of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is leveled against Grace, she begins to live in constant suspicion of everyone -- from the doctors and nurses surrounding her son in the hospital to her own husband. Who could possibly think that she has been purposely making her son ill to gain attention for herself?
Although her husband believes their life is exactly as it seems to the outside world, Grace knows differently. She is harboring a secret -- the adulterous affair she's having with her first love. But perhaps her biggest betrayal of all is her shameful uncertainty about whether she's chosen the right path, the right husband, the right life.
In this compelling and heartbreaking novel, critically acclaimed author Maribeth Fischer addresses how the choices we made yesterday can affect everything that lies before us.
Product Details
| Publisher | Touchstone |
| Publish Date | March 06, 2007 |
| Pages | 288 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Digital (delivered electronically) |
| EAN/UPC | 9781416539162 |
About the Author
Maribeth Fischer has a M.F.A. in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.A. from Iowa State University. A former creative writing instructor, Fischer has been awarded the Pushcart Prize, and her first novel, The Language of Good-bye, received the Virginia Commonwealth University Award for a First Novel. She also acts as the executive director of Writers at the Beach, a biannual writers' conference, and as the president of the Rehoboth Beach Writers' Guild. Fischer lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Reviews
"The fear of losing a child is horrifying. The fear of knowing people think you hurt that child is annihilating. In The Life You Longed For, Maribeth Fischer probes the netherworld of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy in an affecting, startling story. This may be the novel you longed for."
-- Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Cage of Stars
"Maribeth Fischer is as much a scientist as she is a poet: in her heartbreaking exploration of motherhood and the way tragedy can grow out of everyday choices, she analyzes and deduces, layers and uncovers, to teach us things we never knew about the science of love, the biology of betrayal, and the epidemiology of loss."
-- Carolyn Parkhurst, author of Lost and Found
"A fiery and modern-day version of the witch hunt, The Life You Longed For is the story of how a mother can be accused of the worst offense by any doctor, friend, or neighbor. But this is no dark tale, The Life You Longed For is beautifully written and filled with characters who are fallible, utterly human, and completely compelling. It is a novel brimming with joy, heartbreak, and the power of love."
-- Colleen Curran, author of Whores on the Hill
"Grace is as vigilant, astonishing, and brave as she is exhausted and imperfect. Simply put, she is a mother. In intimate and achingly lyrical language, Maribeth Fischer tackles the question: How do we love in the face of inevitable loss? The answer she gives us is: Fiercely, completely."
-- Marisa De Los Santos, author of Love Walked In
"The Life You Longed For moves swiftly and painfully through so many levels of grief, anger, and fright -- but it never loses sight of the power and majesty of love. This book should be required reading for every single person who makes a living in the medical profession, and everyone who has ever longed for the duties and rewards of parenthood."
-- Robert Bausch, author of A Hole in the Earth and The Gypsy Man
"The Life You Longed For pulled me from beginning to end without pause. Maribeth Fischer's beautiful, clear, descriptive writing engages all the senses while immersing the reader in mystery."
-- Sheri Reynolds, author of Firefly Cloak and The Rapture of Canaan
-- Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Cage of Stars
"Maribeth Fischer is as much a scientist as she is a poet: in her heartbreaking exploration of motherhood and the way tragedy can grow out of everyday choices, she analyzes and deduces, layers and uncovers, to teach us things we never knew about the science of love, the biology of betrayal, and the epidemiology of loss."
-- Carolyn Parkhurst, author of Lost and Found
"A fiery and modern-day version of the witch hunt, The Life You Longed For is the story of how a mother can be accused of the worst offense by any doctor, friend, or neighbor. But this is no dark tale, The Life You Longed For is beautifully written and filled with characters who are fallible, utterly human, and completely compelling. It is a novel brimming with joy, heartbreak, and the power of love."
-- Colleen Curran, author of Whores on the Hill
"Grace is as vigilant, astonishing, and brave as she is exhausted and imperfect. Simply put, she is a mother. In intimate and achingly lyrical language, Maribeth Fischer tackles the question: How do we love in the face of inevitable loss? The answer she gives us is: Fiercely, completely."
-- Marisa De Los Santos, author of Love Walked In
"The Life You Longed For moves swiftly and painfully through so many levels of grief, anger, and fright -- but it never loses sight of the power and majesty of love. This book should be required reading for every single person who makes a living in the medical profession, and everyone who has ever longed for the duties and rewards of parenthood."
-- Robert Bausch, author of A Hole in the Earth and The Gypsy Man
"The Life You Longed For pulled me from beginning to end without pause. Maribeth Fischer's beautiful, clear, descriptive writing engages all the senses while immersing the reader in mystery."
-- Sheri Reynolds, author of Firefly Cloak and The Rapture of Canaan
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