Susan Petersen Avitzour comes from a bookworm family, starting to read at the tender age of four, and she hasn’t stop since. Even before then her mother would read her stories just about every day.
Susan was today’s guest on “A Book and a Chat” sharing with us about her book and the meaning behind it, as well as some very moving poetry, all the way from Israel, where she had this very day had become a grandmother for the third time.
She has loved writing from as early as she can remember, though she is the only member of her family who writes seriously. The first story she can remember writing was in her second grade; it was called “Susan the Clown,” and was inspired by her experience of being the odd child out among my peers. She’s been doing creative writing ever since.
In 2001 her then eighteen year old daughter Timora lost the battle she had been fighting for years with leukemia. For many years Susan had been sharing on almost daily reports the ups and downs of the emotional roller coaster that her daughter Timora and her family had gone through.
Unable to touch these reports for years after the sad death of Timora, Susan eventually decided to produce the shared blogs, as well as her feelings, and some of Timor’a and her family’s poetry. These blogs eventually became her novel “And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones” a line taking from a moving poem written by her husband in Timora’s memory.
The book rather than one of bereavement, far from it there is so much more in this book, from laughter to tears and every emotion in between. As one reviewer put it…
“It is a heartfelt, honest, illuminating and ultimately uplifting book, as one follows a family’s steadfast refusal to give up, even in light of crushing odds.
Rather than write a synopsis of “And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones” I will use what Susan wrote about her book.
And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones
In my memoir, I grapple with many of the profound personal, philosophical, and spiritual questions with which bereaved parents struggle for years – if not for the rest of their lives.
Through narrative, poetry, and a personal and philosophical journal, I aim to draw my readers into my family’s world during the long, wrong years of my daughter’s illness, and into my own emotional, intellectual, and spiritual journey in their aftermath.
I address topics that range from food to fun to forgiveness, from pain to purpose to prayer – and ultimately to the challenge of affirming faith and love
in an unpredictable, and often cruel, universe.
I hope very much that this book will provide assistance and support not only to bereaved families, but to anyone facing life’s inevitable challenges and trials.Susan finished the show with the last poem Timora wrote, something that I felt no show end music or final farewell could beat. So please listen now and share the words of this wonderful book during an interesting and hugely entertaining show as I spend thirty minutes sharing "A Book and a Chat with Susan Petersen Avitzour".
Barry
Direct link to the show
"A Book and a Chat with Susan Petersen Avitzour"
or you can download the mp3 file of the show from
"Susan Petersen Avitzour"
You can find out more about my guest and their books at:
"Susan Petersen Avitzour - And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones"
Barry Eva (Storyheart)
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