All of This

Rebecca Woolf, writer and blogger, narrates her memoir with devastating clarity and compassion. She married young when a surprise pregnancy occurred in a relationship that had just barely begun. After 14 years in a stifling and abusive marriage that included raising four kids and a life that asked her to sacrifice too much of herself, she finally demanded a divorce. Weeks later, her husband, Hal, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and four months later he was dead. With raw honesty, Woolf shares the intense story of those months, her grief, and the deep relief she felt when she began redefining her life and herself on her own. Hearing Woolf share her story in her own voice is as intimate as the story she tells. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

June 10, 2024

Blogger and essayist Woolf (Rockabye: From Wild to Child) bares her soul in this memoir of her tumultuous marriage and her husband's early death. Woolf spares no one's feelings, least of all her own, in her efforts to examine the four months between her husband's pancreatic cancer diagnosis and his death, through the lens of their often-unhappy marriage and its impact on their four young children. She is unflinching in her narration as well, moving freely between wry humor, a more reserved factualness, and raw-throated emotion. The second part of the memoir, chronicling Woolf's first days, weeks, and months as a widow, is an emotionally complex mix of grief and catharsis. Woolf's writing and narration, while admirably honest, are sometimes confusingly metaphoric. Listeners may struggle to follow the thread of her reflections, while respecting her willingness to express what many feel too conflicted or ashamed to take on. VERDICT Those who take solace in deep explorations of the grace and crudeness of people at their most vulnerable will find kinship with Woolf's journey. Recommended for listeners who enjoy the work of Roxane Gay or Jenny Lawson.--Natalie Marshall

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