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Losing My Sister
by
Judy Goldman (Goodreads Author)
"Family stories grow to be bigger than the experiences themselves," writes Judy Goldman in her memoir, Losing My Sister. "They become home to us, tell us who we are, who we want to be. Over the years, they take on more and more embellishments and adornments until they eclipse the actual memory. They become our past--just as a snapshot will, at first, enhance a memory, then...more
Hardcover, 270 pages
Published
October 2nd 2012
by John F. Blair Publisher
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Yes Brenda was a pain in the butt, but family can do that to you. They'll drive you up the wall and seeing Judy's side of the story, it did drive me up the wall and down the damn street. In the end it was a sad story and as for anyone who's had a close family member pass away knows, it's extremely difficult to watch them just fade out.
The memories are random and not in any particular order. It's hard to get the timelines right sometimes because you want to keep reading but have to keep going ba...more
The memories are random and not in any particular order. It's hard to get the timelines right sometimes because you want to keep reading but have to keep going ba...more
What can I say. The intimate, honest and compassionate voice of the author welcomes you into a story that is both universal and unique. Goldman and her sister were allies and nemeses at the same time. The reader feels invited to join in the great love affair of this sibling relationship. It would have been easier to either stick to the ways in which the author adored and worshiped her sister or write a scathing condemnation of wrongs committed. Instead, Goldman trusts herself and her reader enou...more
I won this book through a goodreads giveaway.
The memoir chronicles family tragedy: the death of parents and the long battle with cancer that the author's older sister suffers. Through all this, Goldman incorporates vignettes of memory from childhood that help define the two sisters as adults--one is the strong one and one is the meek and sweet one. As they become adults, these roles chafe against each other, and their relationship suffers because of it. It's only shortly before the death of her...more
The memoir chronicles family tragedy: the death of parents and the long battle with cancer that the author's older sister suffers. Through all this, Goldman incorporates vignettes of memory from childhood that help define the two sisters as adults--one is the strong one and one is the meek and sweet one. As they become adults, these roles chafe against each other, and their relationship suffers because of it. It's only shortly before the death of her...more
You have a pretty good hint in the very beginning of how Judy is going to lose her sister, but the bulk of this book is about losing your sister another way: through misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and resentments.
Judy and Brenda (and big brother Donald) grow up in Rock Hill, SC, just over the state line from Charlotte, NC (where they all end up) and seemed to have a pretty idyllic childhood, with loving parents, a beautiful house (they had a working fireplace in their childhood bedroom!) and...more
Judy and Brenda (and big brother Donald) grow up in Rock Hill, SC, just over the state line from Charlotte, NC (where they all end up) and seemed to have a pretty idyllic childhood, with loving parents, a beautiful house (they had a working fireplace in their childhood bedroom!) and...more
Here's a must-read for anyone trying to cope with life in general and difficult families and serious illness in particular.
Judy Goldman's work as a poet shines through with crisp, animated prose from chapter one. I was most impressed with her artful restraint. Her topic (losing her sister to breast cancer), sibling rivalry and slippery family dynamics could have lapsed into melodrama. Instead, Judy cuts to the heart of the matter, offers a compelling and, in the end, joyful tale of one family's...more
Judy Goldman's work as a poet shines through with crisp, animated prose from chapter one. I was most impressed with her artful restraint. Her topic (losing her sister to breast cancer), sibling rivalry and slippery family dynamics could have lapsed into melodrama. Instead, Judy cuts to the heart of the matter, offers a compelling and, in the end, joyful tale of one family's...more
I was lucky to receive an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through a Goodreads giveaway!
You know when you read a book titled "Losing My Sister" it's going to be sad, and it was, though not the way I imagined. Judy Goldman documents her lifelong relationship with her older sister Brenda in a way that is contemplative and poetic. I highlighted many insights that were particularly profound. Parts of their relationship remind me of me and my sister, and some of it I wish for my own daug...more
You know when you read a book titled "Losing My Sister" it's going to be sad, and it was, though not the way I imagined. Judy Goldman documents her lifelong relationship with her older sister Brenda in a way that is contemplative and poetic. I highlighted many insights that were particularly profound. Parts of their relationship remind me of me and my sister, and some of it I wish for my own daug...more
LOVED this book. It takes place near my hometown of Gastonia, NC. From beginning to end, I loved hearing what these sisters went through, how they reacted and what happended in the end. It was a wonderful book to read. You will enjoy it, too, especially if you do have a sister!
I generally don't trust memoirs, but this one feels extraordinarily honest. I believe it. It's THE great subject, too -- family; if you've got one, you'll relate. Wonderfully written, too. Highly recommended.
Memoir lovers, read "Losing My Sister." Memoir writers, go to school on it.
Memoir lovers, read "Losing My Sister." Memoir writers, go to school on it.
Deeply moving and beautifully crafted work on family, love, and loss. Could not put it down!
It was ok
Well written and emotional.
Any memoir by a poet is worth reading, and Judy Goldman's does not disappoint. A moving read for anyone with a sister.
A moving memoir. The reader feels so many emotions reading this book- the joy the sisters share growing up in a small town, the love of a family unit and the despair of sibling fallout. Author photographs add to the memoir and enhance the efforts to show the true bond between sisters. Beautifully written, it leaves the reader with a sense of family spirit.
Judy Goldman���s Losing My Sister is big, wise, heart-squeezing. It puts to words what I���d thought inarticulable���an act not unlike giving flesh to a shadow. This book will help a lot of people���people who are hurting for excellent prose, and also people who are just hurting.
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Judy Goldman is the author of a new memoir, Losing My Sister (published October 2012). Excerpts appeared in Real Simple Magazine and Drafthorse, an online journal.
She is also the author of two novels, Early Leaving and The Slow Way Back, as well as two books of poetry, Holding Back Winter and Wanting To Know the End.
She has received the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Mary Ruffin Poole...more
More about Judy Goldman...
She is also the author of two novels, Early Leaving and The Slow Way Back, as well as two books of poetry, Holding Back Winter and Wanting To Know the End.
She has received the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction, the Mary Ruffin Poole...more
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