Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from mariner Books via #netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.
From the acclaimed author of the “wonderfully funny and openhearted” (NPR) Drinking with Men comes a poignant, wrenching, and ultimately hopeful book—equal parts memoir and social history—that follows the author, after a series of tragic losses, to Northern Ireland, where she finds a path toward healing.
Synopsis:
Rosie Schaap had a solid career as a journalist and a life that looked to others like nonstop fun: all drinking and dining and traveling to beautiful places—and getting paid to write about it. But under the surface she was reeling from the loss of her husband and her mother—who died just one year apart. Caring for them had claimed much of her daily life in her late thirties. Mourning them would take longer.
It wasn’t until a reporting trip took her to the Northern Irish countryside that Rosie found a partner to heal with: Glenarm, a quiet, seaside village in County Antrim. That first visit made such an impression she returned to make a life. This unlikely place—in a small, tough country mainly associated with sectarian strife—gave her a measure of peace that had seemed impossible elsewhere.
Weaving personal narrative and social history, The Slow Road North is a moving and wise look at how a community can offer the key to healing. It’s a portrait of a complicated place at a pivotal time—through Brexit, a historic school integration, and a pandemic—and a love letter to a village, a culture, and a country.
Review:
I originally thought this books would be just an autobiography, a la A Taste of Provenance, but it isn't. While there are shades of that, mainly it is a book about grief, about learning to let go of what binds us, and being willing to experience the new. The book explores how Schaap let go of her grief, thanks to staying in a remote village and finding new friends and a place to call home. When she returns, she immerses herself into the village and finds a new life, and comes to understand her grief and starts her new life. It's a different type of book- less entertaining, more resource (though there are entertaining bits). if you have someone who is ealing with grief, this might be a good book for them.
About the Author:
Rosie Schaap is the author ofDrinking with Men: A Memoir and Becoming a Sommelier. She was a columnist for The New York Times Magazine, and has also contributed to the paper’s book review, dining, opinion, sports, and travel sections; This American Life; Food & Wine; Marie Claire; Saveur; Travel + Leisure; and many essay anthologies. She was previously employed as a community organizer and a manager of homeless shelters. A native New Yorker, she lives in Glenarm, Northern Ireland.
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