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Published Feb 2023
224 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
A profound examination of grief and a great celebration of love by internationally bestselling author James Runcie.
In early 2020, as the world sunk into the pandemic, James Runcie and his wife Marilyn Imrie were going through a different, far more personal tragedy. After 35 years of miraculously happy marriage, they learned that the painful, frustrating symptoms Marilyn had been experiencing for two years were a sign of Lou Gehrig's Disease. With this diagnosis, during the isolation and strangeness of the pandemic, James and Marilyn's lives were transformed.
Now, in his startling and intimate memoir, James tells the story of Marilyn's illness and death–-in all its moments of tragedy, rage, and strangeness-–while painting a vivid portrait of her life, in all its color, humor, and brightness. Tender, funny, and deeply true, Tell Me Good Things is an unforgettable story of life before death and love after grief.
"A widower turns grief into a profound appreciation of his wife's legacy in this poignant elegy … Runcie entwines beguiling digressions on everything from Victorian mourning customs to the philosophy of soccer fandom among his evocative vignettes of their life together … The result is that rare thing, a moving exploration of a great marriage and its ability to nourish the mind and heart." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A deeply emotional memoir … and a moving meditation on grief … Sorrow imbues a tender, intimate memoir." - Kirkus Reviews
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James Runcie is an award-winning film-maker, playwright and literary curator. He is the author of twelve novels that have been translated into twelve languages, including the seven books in the Grantchester Mysteries series. He has been Artistic Director of the Bath Literature Festival, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, London, and Commissioning Editor for Arts on BBC Radio 4. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Scotland.
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