⇒ PDF Beautiful Affliction A Memoir eBook Lene Fogelberg

Beautiful Affliction A Memoir eBook Lene Fogelberg

Download As PDF : Beautiful Affliction A Memoir eBook Lene Fogelberg

Beautiful Affliction A Memoir eBook Lene Fogelberg

Beautiful Affliction is a stunning debut memoir about a young woman whose fatal congenital heart condition is dismissed by the medical community in Sweden. But, it isn’t only the topic that makes this memoir a page-turner. Lene Fogelberg weaves a riveting story of fear of impending death, invalidated for years as she struggles with daily fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath. She knows something is wrong and often feels she is going insane while putting up a valiant front for her husband and two little girls. Underlying this daily challenge is the deep love that she and her husband, Anders, share. I felt the love, the frailties, the fears. It’s her prose--lyrical and fluid-- which kept me up way past my bedtime. I could not put the book down and read it in one sitting. She brought me right into her story with ease through her vivid details and genuine voice. It flows seamlessly through rocky terrain and against the backdrop of seemingly impossible odds. Even though I knew she survived, it still kept me on edge.

Her use of flashbacks is very effective as she alternates chapters between her past and her present leading up to the heart surgery that saved her life. This serves to build the tension and kept me highly engaged in the story. The circumstances of her ultimate diagnosis and treatment are nothing short of a miracle.

The beauty of memoir is that we are invited into another person’s story in a way where we can connect with our own story. We are part of the story as we share in the experience, feeling the pain and rejoicing in the triumphs and the gift of life. Lene’s memoir delivers on all counts. A truly beautiful and uplifting memoir, masterfully written.


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Beautiful Affliction A Memoir eBook Lene Fogelberg Reviews

Wow. Very personal and riveting read. There were times I wanted to skip ahead to see how it turned out, but I resisted. It took me a little while to get used to the bouncing back and forth in chronology, but the flashback parts fit so perfectly to what was happening at the present time that I started to look forward to them. My mother had a triple bypass when she was in her mid 40s, and I was kinda too young to fully understand what was going on, so this also made me feel like I was hearing my own mom's thoughts when she went through her surgery. It's definitely a new topic for me to read about, and I read mostly nonfiction and memoirs, so it was also interesting as something fresh. A good read that I think anyone can enjoy.
When I was a young mother of one and one on the way, a couple moved into our church congregation with two darling, shy girls who barely spoke English. I was the pianist in the kids' program, so I sat behind the piano and watched them learn and grow and blossom over the year we were here. I can be pretty introverted myself, so I didn't get to know Lene and Anders as well as I wish I had, but we lived close to each other, so they watched my baby on occasion, and we had a memorable Midsummers celebration at their house. I was sad when they left after only a year, and surprised when my husband told me that Lene had had heart surgery while here. Reading this book was an insight into the lives of people who I already know, and it was such in an interesting read because of that! I even recognized some of the characters! I know I was fairly self-involved with my own small children and pregnancy, and wish I had gotten to know them more. At the time, I had no clue that Lene was having open heart surgery!

When I was a teenager, my dad had open-heart surgery and a valve replacement. Like Lene, he was born with a bicuspid valve. He had other issues different than hers, but reading the daily struggle for her was an insight into how life was for my dad. I vividly remember dancing with him once and he could only dance one dance before sitting to catch his breath. Lene writes so poetically. I really did feel like I was experiencing things along with her. The depression in her flashbacks was especially poignant because of my own post-partum depression. I got angry at her Swedish doctors and midwives, and cheered for her American doctors. I'm not sure I'll complain about any aspect of our healthcare for awhile after reading this!

I suggested this book for our book club, and tomorrow we will discuss it. I highly recommend this read for anyone. I will suggest it to my mom and dad, who have gone through the trials of heart surgery several times now. I hope Lene is writing more books!
Lene Fogelberg is a wonder! Not only has she written a beautifully compelling study of the human heart and spirit in Beautiful Affliction, she has written it in English, her second language. Her poetic prose and wispy-like descriptions of the world between the worlds as she struggles to stay alive and breathe after her surgery is just fascinating. The inner world we get to experience as she lays in bed with a ventilator breathing for her is truly magical and mystical. I was brought to tears several times during the book, the emotions welling up in me as I felt the horrible truth of her condition. In one scene after the surgery, when Anders is helping Lene to the bathroom for the first time I had to put the book down and breathe deeply to recover myself. The intimacy in that scene was just heart wrenching and so beautifully written it made me cry. It is the connection and love expressed so well between married people. Anders is both sweet and strong, it’s hard not to fall in love with him ourselves. Truth and honesty reign clear in this book, and if you pick it up you will not be able to put it down.
Beautiful Affliction is a stunning debut memoir about a young woman whose fatal congenital heart condition is dismissed by the medical community in Sweden. But, it isn’t only the topic that makes this memoir a page-turner. Lene Fogelberg weaves a riveting story of fear of impending death, invalidated for years as she struggles with daily fatigue, dizziness and shortness of breath. She knows something is wrong and often feels she is going insane while putting up a valiant front for her husband and two little girls. Underlying this daily challenge is the deep love that she and her husband, Anders, share. I felt the love, the frailties, the fears. It’s her prose--lyrical and fluid-- which kept me up way past my bedtime. I could not put the book down and read it in one sitting. She brought me right into her story with ease through her vivid details and genuine voice. It flows seamlessly through rocky terrain and against the backdrop of seemingly impossible odds. Even though I knew she survived, it still kept me on edge.

Her use of flashbacks is very effective as she alternates chapters between her past and her present leading up to the heart surgery that saved her life. This serves to build the tension and kept me highly engaged in the story. The circumstances of her ultimate diagnosis and treatment are nothing short of a miracle.

The beauty of memoir is that we are invited into another person’s story in a way where we can connect with our own story. We are part of the story as we share in the experience, feeling the pain and rejoicing in the triumphs and the gift of life. Lene’s memoir delivers on all counts. A truly beautiful and uplifting memoir, masterfully written.