Holden After and Before
Holden After and Before
Kirsten Lyon
, Marilyn Stanley
, Cassandra Schiemann
, Kate Rutter
, Jude Castillo
, Mary Therrien
, Gabrielle Wolfe
, Andrea Pole
, Linda Dessau
, Paula Adam
, Teree Hokanson
, Chris Carvalho
, Jilanna Eagles
, Hoda Montazeri
, Noelle Walsh
, Catherine Westerberg
, Remi Gunn
, Paris Semansky
, Dani Kat
, Barry Kazimer
, Catherine Booker
, Sarah Schwartz
, Sandra Perry
, Janet Baron
, Linda Leitch
, Margo Beredjiklian
, Crystal Inwood
, Maureen Brownlee
, Vanessa Charbonneau-Dinelle
, KERRILYNN SWEENEY
, Deb Philippon
, Joe Mitchell
, Melissa Poremba
, Yolande Thivierge
, Alice Meems
, Wanda Brine
, Melissa Kohlman
, PATRICIA SOPEL
, Natasa Ilic
, Laurie Burns
, Gina Bergman
, Samantha Fitzpatrick
, Margaret McKay
, Kim Cappellina
, Rachel Edmonds
, Jane Graham
, Darlene Jilks
, Rhona Brinkman
, Lynn Andrews
, Filomena Falocco
, Marin Beck
, Ken Gilmour
, Pamela Roberts Griffith
, Karen Kendrick
, Laura Peters
, Heather Belliveau
, Siobhan Monaghan
, Paula Ritchie
, Ellen Clarke
, Huguette Lemieux
, Benita Hartwell
, Sandra Storey
, Randi Ann Doll
, Janice Cournoyer
, Lynn Bechtel
, Denise Duvall
, Mary Danieli
, Diane O'Flaherty
, Penelope Penner
, Pamela Humphrey
, Joann Horgan
, Jasmeet Gill
, Pete Pearson
, Christopher Rossignol
editor@49thShelf.com
Holden After and Before is a moving meditation on grief in the same vein as Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk: a stunning book that traces Tara McGuire's excavation and documentation of the life path of her son Holden, a graffiti artist who died of an accidental opioid overdose at the age of twenty-one. Beginning with Holden's death and leaping through time and space, McGuire employs fact, investigation, memory, fantasy, and even fabrication in her search for understanding not only of her son's tragic death, but also of his beautiful life. She navigates and writes across the many blank spaces to form a story of discovery and humanity, examining themes of grief, pain, mental illness, trauma, creative expression, identity, and deep, unending love inside just one of the thousands of deaths that have occurred as a result of the opioid crisis.
With poignant honesty and a heart laid bare, Holden After and Before is a beautiful and moving elegy to a son lost to overdose.
