A Three Dog Life
by Abigail Thomas
Published by Harcourt, Inc.
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Reviewed by Sarah van Ingen
What would you do if the one person you loved most in this world were in an accident? What if it were a terrible accident, one from which your beloved would never fully rise? Most of us have no idea of how to even begin thinking about such an experience.
In A Three Dog Life, Abigail Thomas lifts the veil on this heart-rending trauma. The book opens as her husband Rich, while out walking the dog, is hit by a car. He sustains a permanent brain injury that leaves him with little short-term memory and in need of twenty-four hour care.
Never sentimental, yet so transparent, Thomas allows the whisperings of her heart to tumble onto the pages of this captivating memoir. Remarkably, she permits her inmost thoughts to find their way into words without censorship. Raw, powerful emotions course through a memoir that is at once about a lost love and at the same time about a newfound love. Thomas' writing is so provocatively honest that it resonates deep within every reader who has survived love and loss.
Through her writing, Thomas lets the reader experience the loneliness and uncertainty of waking to a life that is totally unfamiliar. Her memoir deals with questions of control, memory, meaning and language. With regard to language, you are sure to be delighted by Thomas' vivid imagination and beautiful use of language. When, on the sixth page, Thomas writes, "I watch the dogs, one tiny dachshund so skinny he looks like a single stroke of calligraphy," the reader realizes that this will be an engaging book.
Who will be interested in this memoir? Certainly any of us grieving a loss , but also any of us longing for more meaningful living. It is a wisdom born of suffering that allows Thomas to teach us: "still, how great to be enjoying the ride, however uncertain the outcome . . . It's what we're all doing anyway, we just don't know it."
Armchair Interviews says: Emotional messages about loss.