HERE AFTER by Amy Lin

This gorgeous memoir, about Lin’s sudden loss of her husband, is told in brief, lyrical flashes that move between the present and the past. There is a profound sense of rupture, when her thirty-two-year-old husband, Kurtis, dies suddenly, during a half-marathon, after less than a year of marriage.

The book’s structure, written in 184 short fragments, is a metaphor for the fragmented ways in which grief enters and exits our consciousness. Yet, there is an emotional thread throughout the narrative which gives it a feeling of continuity. This thread revolves around the deep love between Lin and her husband and her struggle to survive this devastating loss.

Shortly after her husband’s death, Lin experiences a medical emergency of her own. She has a serious blood clot in her leg which results in surgery and time in the ICU.

It would be easy to feel overwhelmed and defeated by these traumas, but Lin emerges as a survivor through shear persistence. Despite the gravity of the subject matter, this book was never dark. I especially enjoyed Lin’s portrayal of her husband. I found her poetic voice, delicate and mesmerizing. This is no ordinary memoir on loss.