The Middle Place
Ratings3
Average rating3.3
The thing you need to know about me is that I am George Corrigans daughter, his only daughter. So begins this beautifully written memoir, in which Kelly Corrigan intertwines her own story with that of her larger-than-life, Irish-American, born-salesman fathers, and illustrates both an unbelievably powerful and healing father/daughter relationship and the unbreakable bonds of family. Writing with candor and a surprising amount of graceful humor, Kelly alternates the tale of growing up Corrigan with her life and her fathers today, as they each—successfully, for now—battle cancer. Throughout, she explores the framework of illness and what it means when the one person who has been your source of strength is in need of some himself. Uplifting without shying away from the realities of life with cancer, this highly personal story ultimately examines the universal theme of family, both those we create and those that created us. The Middle Place is about the bittersweet moment between childhood and adulthood—when youre a devoted wife and mother, but youll always be daddys girl. In fresh, insightful prose, Kelly explores and ultimately embraces that "middle place," bringing to light the wonderful opportunity of coming to know who you are and where you truly belong.
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I stayed up til 2am last night reading this. Moving, warm and heart breaking all at the same time.
I first heard about this book on a YouTube video. The author was reading a wonderful excerpt from her book on the video, all about the wonderful support women give each other during the tough times every woman will face. Somewhere I saw that the reader was Kelly Corrigan and I assumed the beautifully written words were from her book, The Middle Place.
After reading the entire book, I finally realized the piece must be from an article Corrigan wrote; The Middle Place is a story from an earlier part of Corrigan's life. The Middle Place relates the tale of Corrigan's love for her dad and the subsequent diagnosis of cancer in both Corrigan and her father. It's a worthy story. I'd have never checked it out but for the lovely video on YouTube. Now I await her newest book.
I liked this book. My mom was treated for breast cancer some years ago, and some parts of the book were pure reminiscense, still others answered questions I haven't asked at the time.
