{"product_id":"flesh-blood-reflections-on-infertility-family-and-creating-a-bountiful-life-a-memoir-hardcover","title":"Flesh \u0026 Blood: Reflections on Infertility, Family, and Creating a Bountiful Life: A Memoir - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eN. West Moss\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHonest, warm, and witty, this memoir reads like a chat with a dear friend sharing her insight and taking us along as she heals. Complete with family stories over cocktails and a praying mantis named Claude.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"I drive and say to myself, if I \u003ci\u003eam \u003c\/i\u003edying, if this is how I die, then this is how I die.\" When N. West Moss finds herself bleeding uncontrollably in the middle of a writing class, she manages to drive herself to the nearest hospital. Doctors are baffled, but eventually a diagnosis--uterine hemangioma--is rendered and a hysterectomy is scheduled. In prose both lyrical and unsparing, Moss takes us along through illness, relapse, and recovery. And as her thoughts turn to her previous struggles with infertility, she reflects on kin and kinship and on what it means to leave a legacy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Moss's wise, droll voice and limitless curiosity lift this narrative beyond any narrow focus. Among her interests: yellow fever, good cocktails, the history of New Orleans, and, always, the natural world, including the praying mantis in her sunroom whom she names Claude. And we learn about the inspiring women in Moss's family--her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother--as she sorts out her feelings that this line will end with her. But Moss discovers that there are ways besides having children to make a mark, and that grief is not a stopping place but a companion that travels along with us through everything, even happiness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A remarkably honest memoir about heartache and healing, \u003ci\u003eFlesh \u0026amp; Blood\u003c\/i\u003e opens up a conversation with the millions of women who live with infertility and loss.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eN. WEST MOSS is the author of the story collection \u003ci\u003eThe Subway Stops at Bryant Park\u003c\/i\u003e. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times, Salon, McSweeney's\u003c\/i\u003e, and many other publications. The recipient of three William Faulkner-William Wisdom gold medals and winner of the \u003ci\u003eSaturday Evening Post\u003c\/i\u003e 's Great American Fiction Contest, she holds an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in narrative medicine from Columbia University. She works in New Jersey, where she lives with her husband.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.02 x 7.17 x 5.12 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 12, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42161547509895,"sku":"9781643750705","price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/92dac3302f0ca504f7ead47d7ac8adad.webp?v=1733282077","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/flesh-blood-reflections-on-infertility-family-and-creating-a-bountiful-life-a-memoir-hardcover","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}