NamedaTopTenBestBookoftheYearbyTimeandPeopleNamedaBestBookoftheYearby:WashingtonPost*KirkusReviews*NewYorker*ChicagoPublicLibrary*NPR*OprahDaily*PhiladelphiaEnquirerAtaut,groundbreakingnewnovelfrombestsellingandaward-winningauthorElizabethMcCracken,aboutawriter’srelationshipwithherlarger-than-lifemother--andabouttheverynatureofwriting,memory,andartTenmonthsafterhermother’sdeath,thenarratorofTheHeroofThisBooktakesatriptoLondon.Thecitywasafavoriteofhermother’s,andasthenarratorwandersthestreets,shefindsherselfreflectingonhermother’slifeandtheirrelationship.Thoughtsofthepastmeldwithquestionsofthefuture:BackinNewEngland,thefamilyhomeisnowupforsale,itsconsiderablecontentsalreadywinnowed.Thewoman,awriter,recallsallthatmadehercomplicatedmotherextraordinary--herbrilliantwit,hergenerosity,herunbelievableobstinacy,hersheerwillinseizinglifedespitephysicaldifficulties--andfindsherselfwonderinghowhermotherhadendured.Eventhoughshewantstorespecthermother’snearlypathologicalsenseofprivacy,thewomanmustcometotermswithwhethermakingachronicleofthisremarkablelifeconstitutesanactofloveorbetrayal.TheHeroofThisBookisasearingexaminationofgriefandrenewal,andofadeeplyfeltrelationshipbetweenachildandherparents.Whatbeginsasaquestionoffilialdevotionultimatelybecomesalessoninwhatitmeanstowrite.Atoncecomicandheartbreaking,withprosethatdelightsateveryturn,thisisanovelofsuchpiercingloveandtendernessthatweareremindedthatartiswhatremainswhenallelsefallsaway.
