I have a special fondness for memoirs, especially those written by women, so I was happy to read and review Flesh and Blood: Reflections on Infertility, Family, and Creating a Bountiful Life, by N. West Moss. Flesh and Blood is a perfect title for this memoir, a conclusion
…more the reader will probably come to easily after reading the Prologue and first few pages of this book. Ms. Moss refers to "flesh and blood" in the dedication as well:
For my mother
and her mother
and her mother
and her mother
With great fondness she remembers her own Grandmother Hastings, in particular, early on in the book, and again frequently throughout. And since the book is mainly about her experience with an illness which many flesh and blood women can easily relate to (an illness involving flesh and lots of bleeding), an illness which will eventually deprive her of the ability to have grandchildren of her own, the "flesh and blood" of the title are meant to be interpreted literally as well.
I did enjoy this book over all, with its occasional bits of laugh-out-loud humor: alluding to the anesthesiologist and the anesthesia The author quotes, "'Imagine this is a Bombay Sapphire, then,' bless his fucking heart. No kidding, even though I prefer Hendrick's." I also loved her descriptions of her husband, who is all a husband should be, and was entertained by the antics of the praying mantis that lived in her room with her during her recovery.
I give this book four stars, however, instead of the perfect five, possibly because of the off-putting copious amounts of blood Moss describes, although I am not entirely sure that that is why i deducted a point. Still, I would recommend the book to a friend and read this author again. I also think Flesh and Blood would make for an interesting discussion in a women's book club. (less)
