Thousands of feet up in the air, smack dab in the middle of the most violent turbulence I have yet to experience, I realized how bad it had gotten only when the elderly woman next to me actually yelped out loud in fear. Though a nervous flyer, I had been too engrossed in Moonface (Harper Perennial, $13.99) to notice. That’s how visceral the plight of the young couple who star in this beautiful, lyrical memoir is—your own real life woes will seem silly by comparison, perilous ice storms and supernatural wind gusts included.This is not to suggest that this is one of those woe-is-me self-indulgence feasts that so often characterize the contemporary memoir. Though the narrative covers the writer’s battle with kidney disease (she goes through three kidney transplants in 220 pages), there is never a doubt from the first page to the last that this is, at its heart, a love story (pun intended). The author’s husband, Charlie, gives her his kidney early in their courtship, and while this is a true knight-in-shining move, the couple’s playful banter, fierce loyalty, and a shared sense of adventure that takes them across the country prove even more remarkable in the end.
Yes, this is a memoir about living with an illness and overcoming obstacles, but it’s also a stunning portrait of true, fairytale-esque love in the twenty-first century, complete with all the quirks, pitfalls, and empowering trends that define our twenty-something generation.
Buy it here: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Borders • IndieBound • Harper Perennial
