Memorial Days

There’s this new memoir from Geraldine Brooks—you know, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse—and it is just... wow. It’s absolutely beautiful and heartrending.

It's called Memorial Day, and it's about her life with her husband of over three decades, Tony Horwitz. They had this incredible life—started as foreign correspondents in conflict zones, then settled on Martha’s Vineyard to raise their two boys. Just this life filled with meaningful work, good humor, and so much tenderness. Writing during the day, cooking family dinners, and watching sunsets at the beach.

And then, it all just ended. On Memorial Day 2019, Tony, who was only sixty and seemed perfectly healthy, collapsed on a sidewalk and died. Just like that. Geraldine got the phone call we all dread.

But here’s the thing that’s so real about it. Instead of getting space to grieve, she was just hit with red tape and a mountain of to-do lists. The sudden loss just became this massive, yawning gulf.

So, three years later, she books a flight to this remote island off the coast of Australia. She stays in a shack on a rugged, pristine coast, sometimes going days without seeing another soul. And there, finally, she gives herself the time to truly mourn. She ponders how different cultures grieve and what rituals she can create for herself to rebuild her life around this void.

It’s this spare, profoundly moving portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love. It exquisitely captures the joy, the agony, and the mystery of life. Honestly, it’s a lifeline for anyone who has ever experienced loss.