About the Book
Read what others are saying about the book: The biggest surprise of my reading in 2009 is a self-published memoir by Amy Julia Becker, Penelope Ayers. This book might seem to have everything against it. "Self-published" is usually another way of saying "self-indulgent." The subject, the death of the author's mother-in-law from cancer, is so common that, as I have written in the past, every editor has a pile of unusable manuscripts from people trying to capture the experience of accompanying a loved one through illness unto death. Usually they fall into unintentional clichés, sentimentality, and too much detail. But Penelope Ayers is written with an unerring voice, a keen eye for hard and beautiful truth, and almost no false notes. Especially significant is the way that Amy Julia (whom I met this fall through a mutual friend) manages to weave honest reflections about faith into the story without in any way giving in to Christianese or insider platitudes. This is one book a Christian could give to a non-believing friend and say, "This is what it's like to believe, from the inside." We'll be hearing more from Amy Julia Becker—perhaps, with any luck, in 2010. "Amy Julia Becker's 'Penelope Ayers' is one part memoir, one part character study, and one part spiritual autobiography. Everyone in this keenly observed, emotionally charged story comes to a deeper love for one another and a deeper appreciation of the role of the divine in human life. " "Penelope Ayers: A Memoir captures the essence of the intense relationships that a patient develops with her doctor, her health care team, her family, her close and distant friends and most importantly, herself when she is diagnosed with a life threatening illness... This book truly captures all the emotions carried through the final days of a loved one's journey through the serious obstacles that disease creates and how the medical profession and the patient's circle of family and friends can make this journey a peaceful and fullfiling one. " "Any life, seen up close, is much messier than it appears at a distance—messier and richer and stranger, too. Biographies and memoirs often fail to convey this, settling instead for whatever fits the script at hand. By contrast, Amy Julia Becker’s portrait of Penelope Ayers gives us a life in all its magnificent idiosyncrasy, its enigmas and contradictions, its ultimate hope." John Wilson, editor, Books & Culture |
Penelope Ayers is a memoir about a beautiful, gracious, lonely New Orleanian who discovers one February morning that she has cancer. When she reaches out for help, three generations of her fractured, colorful family respond, and in so doing, they all experience grace and healing. 
This story offers comfort and inspiration to anyone facing a life-threatening illness, and it will also appeal to individuals wrestling with questions for God, and about God, in the midst of difficult situations. Ultimately, it is a family story about the strong and tenuous nature of hope.
