By Ann Campanella
Motherhood: Lost and Found
Memoir
Ann Campanella, a freelance writer and horsewoman, returns to North Carolina after a several year absence. In her mid thirties and ready to start a family, she is used to setting goals and accomplishing them. But when Ann experiences a series of miscarriages at the same time her mother shows signs of Alzheimer’s, she plunges into an emotional journey that leads her to a deeper understanding of herself and what it means to love.
Advance Praise for Motherhood: Lost and Found by Ann Campanella
Ann Campanella’s Motherhood: Lost and Found is a story that shines with love and growth — a chronicle of family tragedy and triumph told in some of the most truly lyrical writing you’ll ever encounter. She writes of grief and loss with heart wrenching honesty but without sentimentality then adds humor in such unexpected places I found myself laughing and crying all on the same page. This is the best memoir I’ve read in years and I’m putting it on the shelf of books I’ll never lend.
– Judith Minthorn Stacy, Winner of the Carolina Novel Award and author of Maggie Sweet and Betty Sweet Tells All.
When I finished Ann Campanella’s remarkable memoir, Motherhood: Lost and Found, I tried to put my finger on what it was that had gripped me so in the reading of it. Was it the extraordinary dignity that she gave to her mother and father (whose age I am approaching) in the telling of the story? Yes, it was that, but it was something more — what I would like to call the author’s ability to tell the story without getting in the way of it, without putting herself as character in an obtrusive position. What the book is finally about is not Ann and her mother, but family — the love of a family — Rose, Will, Nate and Ann and their parents, and how that love sustained them during a long and painful crisis, and how Ann’s relationship with her husband Joel was deepened and enriched by that crisis, and how three generations are better than two. It is a ruthlessly honest book about pain and suffering, but ultimately it is a redemptive book in which we are left with a final image of symbiotic love. Motherhood: Lost and Found has much to teach us all as human beings.
– Anthony (Tony) Abbott, Professor Emeritus, Davidson College, Winner of Novello Festival Press Book Award for his novel, Leaving Maggie Hope
A sensitive, in-depth study of one woman’s slow descent into Alzheimer’s as detailed by her daughter, Motherhood: Lost and Found involves us in the dynamic of a multi-generational family as well as the author’s own story: horses, poetry, three terrible miscarriages, and in her 41st year, a final miracle.
– Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, author of numerous books
Ann Campanella’s Motherhood: Lost and Found records the ordinary and extraordinary courage of those who must endure debilitating, even crushing illness and those who must suffer with them while they do so. Here is bravery, patience, reconciliation, and — at long last — hope. I found this story valuable in an intensely personal way. I think others readers will find it so too.
– Fred Chappell, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina
Books can be purchased at:
Main Street Books in Davidson, NC
www.mainstreetbooksdavidson.com
Park Road Books in Charlotte, NC
www.parkroadbooks.com
Dee Gee’s Gifts & Books, Morehead City, NC
www.deegees.com
Most bookstore chains can order this memoir.
Or find the nearest Independent Bookstore.
“One of the best Alzheimer’s books of all time.”
– BookAuthority
Ann Campanella’s Motherhood: Lost and Found is a chronicle of family tragedy and triumph told in some of the most truly lyrical writing you’ll ever encounter. She writes of grief and loss with heart wrenching honesty but without sentimentality then adds humor in such unexpected places I found myself laughing and crying all on the same page. This is the best memoir I’ve read in years….”
– Judith Minthorn Stacy, author of Maggie Sweet, winner of the Carolina Novel Award
A sensitive, in-depth study of one woman’s slow descent into Alzheimer’s as detailed by her daughter, Motherhood: Lost and Found involves us in the dynamic of a multi-generational family as well as the author’s own story: horses, poetry, three terrible miscarriages, and in her 41st year, a final miracle.
– Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize winning poet
Ann Campanella’s Motherhood: Lost and Found records the ordinary and extraordinary courage of those who must endure debilitating, even crushing illness and those who must suffer with them while they do so. Here is bravery, patience, reconciliation, and — at long last — hope. I found this story valuable in an intensely personal way. I think others readers will find it so too.
– Fred Chappell, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina
What the book is finally about is not Ann and her mother, but family — the love of a family — and how that love sustained them during a long and painful crisis…. It is a ruthlessly honest book about pain and suffering, but ultimately it is a redemptive book in which we are left with a final image of symbiotic love. Motherhood: Lost and Found has much to teach us all as human beings.
– Anthony (Tony) Abbott, North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame
I was so deeply touched by this memoir. Anyone with children or aging parents will be moved by this searingly honest story…. Every sentence is beautifully crafted, with a poet’s attention to detail. The images are indelible, and in the end, the reader is completely uplifted by love and hope.
– Lisa Williams Kline, award-winning author of Eleanor Hill
Campanella’s beautifully written memoir about a public health crisis that threatens to affect us all in the coming years is a masterpiece. One of the best books I’ve ever read on the subject of Alzheimer’s!
– Frank Morelli, award-winning author of No Sad Songs
I was so touched by this memoir and the play of poetic words that even months after reading it, I cannot get the experience of the author out of my mind. Her journey has been my salvation; her daughter’s birth my hope.
– Gilda Morina Syverson, award-winning author of My Father’s Daughter
Memoir is my favorite genre, and this book is one of the best I’ve read. I will not soon forget …Campanella’s lyrical, open-hearted chronicle of the physical and emotional upheaval of caring for elderly parents while trying to also have a life of her own…. This is a beautiful story of love, forgiveness, hope, and motherhood. Highly recommended for any memoir enthusiast, as well as readers interested in aging, caregiving, dementia, or infertility.
– Paulette Sharkey, author of A Doll for Grandma
This is not magical triumph, but real-life triumph…. Motherhood Lost and Found reads like a novel. This book is a treasure that I strongly recommend for people interested in Alzheimer’s, or even those simply interested in a compelling story.
– Carol Bradley Bursack, author and columnist, Minding Our Elders
An excellent read for anyone who has experienced loss, who has a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease, or who simply enjoys a great book!
– Mary Ann Drummond, dementia nurse and author of Meet Me Where I Am
It is the gift of a lifetime. Nothing I have ever read has affected me more deeply or made me more thankful that I am alive…. The voice in the book is constant. Faithful, I should say. Abiding. It reminds me of the wind in the high trees I heard at my cabin for thirty years….
– Jack McMichael Martin, writer and artist
