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Title details for The Geography of Love by Glenda Burgess - Available

The Geography of Love

A Memoir

by Glenda Burgess
ebook
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“If I had given it much thought, I might have hesitated to marry a man for whom at the age of 45 much of the past was too painful to consider—for either of us. Truthfully, thought had little to do with it.  Instinct did—the instinct to seize a sure and ebullient happiness or go down trying.”
Falling in love is arguably the greatest risk and leap of faith any of us take.  There’s no guarantee for future happiness, no protection from the ugly scars of the past, no shield from tragedy—this powerful memoir reminds us why we bother.
At a lakeside café in the summer of 1988, 31-year-old Glenda Burgess is sitting across from 44-year-old Kenneth Grunzweig and falling in love. Then Ken confesses that he has already been widowed twice, under harrowing circumstances. This tragic past, the age difference, Ken’s emotionally scarred teenage daughter—all might be enough to send anyone running, but Glenda believed in her instincts, believed more than anything that this lovely, generous man would shape her life. And Ken, who with his heartbreaking losses had long said that he’d given up on love, came to share a sense of their romantic destiny. The two embark on the sort of love affair that many of us don’t believe exist anymore—a grand romance that buoys them through the birth of two kids and fifteen magical years of marriage until tragedy strikes again in the form of a shadowy spot on Ken’s lung. The journey that follows will test their resilience and strengthen their devotion.
The Geography of Love is a book about believing in first instincts and second chances.
It is a poignant exploration of the depths of the human heart and our ability to love and to trust no matter the obstacles.
It is a reminder that “real” life is always richer, stranger, and more extraordinary than fiction.
It is the most moving love story you’ll read this year.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 5, 2008

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780767929134

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780767929134
      • File size: 463 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 19, 2008
      Novelist Burgess's memoir of her idyllic 15-year marriage cut short by the death of her husband from cancer proves startling, memorable and deeply moving. Burgess (Loose Threads
      ) moves backward in time before arriving at husband Ken's shattering diagnosis of lung cancer in November 2002. In the late 1980s, at age 31, she quit her job in government and moved from Washington, D.C., to Spokane, not far from her mother's eastern Washington farm. Burgess was determined to change her life and within a year had embarked on a fairy tale romance with an executive at the company she worked for, Ken Grunzweig, a twice-widowed (one of his wives was shockingly murdered) jet-setter 19 years older with a teenage daughter. Two children, a busy, prosperous life and several moves followed, until the family relocated back to Spokane before illness struck Ken. With gentle, deliberate strokes, Burgess portrays her love for her devoted, athletic husband and the seven months of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy that led to his crushing physical debilitation. Her narrative grows increasingly engrossing, yet difficult to read, as Ken, the fighter, is forced to constantly face death. Burgess's journey possesses bravery and open-eyed clarity.

    • Library Journal

      September 15, 2008
      First-time writer Burgess skillfully writes of how she discovered a powerful new love and broke away from her irascible, stubbornly reclusive mother. With Ken, 13 years her senior and no stranger to life's cruelties, she built a fairy-tale family life only to lose him and her mother to cancer just weeks apart. Burgess's scientifically themed prose is luminous and encompasses a strong spiritual dimension. This sweeping love story will particularly interest those who have endured similar tragedies.Elizabeth Brinkley

      Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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