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Without a Map: A Memoir by Meredith Hall
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Meredith Hall Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2008-04-15 ISBN: 0807072745 Number of pages: 256 Publisher: Beacon Press
Book Reviews of Without a Map: A MemoirBook Review: Took my Breath Away Summary: 5 StarsMeredith Hall got money from the A Room of Her Own Foundation, which enabled her to write Without a Map and it's fortunate that she did. People say that things happen for a reason, and the reason was so that Hall could tell her touching and evocative tale and because she had the talent to do it easily, seemingly. She's got an undeniable talent that shouldn't be wasted - which is yet another reason why I'm sure that this award was necessary for her. I picked up the book because the story was so compelling, the writing seemed to draw me in and because Ms. Hall is relatively local - she's a professor at UNH in Durham and I live near Nashua, NH.
At 16, Ms. Hall met and slept with a young college student and found herself pregnant as a result of that tryst. Ms. Hall was 16 in 1965, and found herself pregnant at a time when unwed pregnancy was generally frowned upon but perhaps was even more so in the rural, conservative, New Hampshire town that she grew up in and was for sure in the Church community that she had been so supported by. She spent the first few months of her pregnancy able to conceal it, but when she couldn't anymore, she was betrayed by her school (by being expelled), her mother (who told Meredith when Meredith told her of her pregnancy - "you can't stay here.") and her father (who chose Ms. Hall's stepmother over her and exiled her to a room in his home, barring her from leaving the home, and never acknowledging how downright mean he and his new wife could be to her). The story starts with the loss of everything in 16 year old Meredith's world - school, friends, family, church, future and eventually, her first born child, which was essentially ripped from her arms. The memoir reflects her life long struggle to come to terms with the betrayals - mostly those of her own parent's to her and her own betrayal of her son, who was put up for adoption, and sent to live in a very abusive household.
She is very honest in this novel, often brutally so, about her perceptions, the words that are used and the feelings that she has but she does it in a very eloquent, classy way. The words that she uses are absolutely perfect. I was hooked. I wanted to know more about this woman and her experiences, how she overcame her great challenges and how she deals with the struggles today. Somehow, she is able to tell her story in such a way that you can tell that she struggle mightily but that she doesn't expect any sympathy from the reader (it's more of a take me as I am and here I am!) and I completely appreciate that. She is conveying her own experiences, but it doesn't appear that she has a political purpose, although one could say that she's trying to exorcise her demons (I wonder what Paul, the son that she gave birth to at 16 and her other younger sons think about this memoir!). Her memoir doesn't carry any contradictions apart from the ones that are common to everyday living, which I admired and loved. Her writing and conveyance of her experiences were so beautiful and poignant, that they were often painful and some moved me to tears.
Loved this book and I hope to one day meet Ms. Hall and express my utter gratitude and admiration to her for this work.
Summary of Without a Map: A MemoirA New York Times Bestseller and 2007 Book Sense Selection
Meredith Hall's moving but unsentimental memoir begins in 1965, when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is then kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East. She returns to New England and stitches together a life that encircles her silenced and invisible grief. When he is twenty-one, her lost son finds her. Hall learns that he grew up in gritty poverty with an abusive father-in her own father's hometown. Their reunion is tender, turbulent, and ultimately redemptive. What sets Without a Map apart is the way in which loss and betrayal evolve into compassion, and compassion into wisdom.
"Hall emerges as a brave writer of tumultuous beauty." -Alanna Nash, Entertainment Weekly
"First-time author Hall pens a haunting meditation on love, loss, and family . . . Hall colors outside the lines with this memoir, full of unexpected twists and turns." -Caroline Leavitt, People (rated 4 out of 4 stars)
"Beautifully rendered." -Elle (a nonfiction readers' pick)
"A modern-day Scarlet Letter." -Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times
"A poignant, unflinchingly assured memoir . . . exquisite." -Robert Braile, Boston Globe
"Meredith Hall's magnificent book held me in its thrall from the moment I began reading the opening pages . . . a fluid, beautifully written, hard-won piece of work that belongs on the shelf next to the best modern memoirs." -Dani Shapiro, author of Black and White
"An unusually elegant memoir that feels as though it's been carved straight out of Meredith Hall's capacious heart. The story is riveting, the words perfect." -Lauren Slater, author of Welcome to My Country and Opening Skinner's Box
"Hall's memoir is a sobering portrayal of how punitive her close-knit New Hampshire community was in 1965 when, at the age of 16, she became pregnant in the course of a casual summer romance . . . Hall offers a testament to the importance of understanding and even forgiving the people who, however unconscious or unkind, have made us who we are." -Francine Prose, O Magazine
"Meredith Hall's long journey from an inexcusably betrayed girlhood to the bittersweet mercies of womanhood is a triple triumph-of survival; of narration; and of forgiveness. Without a Map is a masterpiece." -David James Duncan, author of The Brothers K and God Laughs and Plays
"Each chapter of Without a Map is polished and elegantly written . . . the structure is shapely and the book yields poignant insights." -Juliet Wittman, Washington Post
"Hall's memoir, Without a Map, is a devastating story of what happens when a person is exiled from her own life." -Frances Lefkowitz, Body + Soul
"I'm awed by Meredith Hall's wisdom and integrity, by her gorgeous prose that deepens my understanding of resilience and love, of loss and forgiveness. A courageous and brilliant memoir." -Ursula Hegi, author of The Worst Thing I've Done
"Without a Map tells an important and perceptive story about loss, about aloneness and isolation in a time of great need, about a life slowly coming back into focus and the calm that finally emerges. Meredith Hall is a brave new writer who earns our attention." -Annie Dillard, author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and For the Time Being
"Elegant pprosed make Without a Map an evocative, thought-provoking read. But Hall's heartrending candor on love, loss and hope turn this first-time author's book into a one-sided coversation among new friends." -Jennifer DeCamp, St. Petersburg Times
"A compelling, painful, hopeful story." -Barbara Jones, More Magazine
"Without a Map tells a stunning story of exile and ostracization . . . Her memoir is a rare and clear glimpse into the social mores of the mid '60s, and reveals the state of shame many families faced when an unmarried daughter became pregnant." -Liz Bulkley, The Front Porch, NHPR
"An unbelievable read." -Robin Young, Here and Now, NPR
"Meredith Hall's memoir is so well written that it was hard for me to accept that the book had to end." -Tina Ristau, Des Moines Register
"Painfully honest and beautifully written . . . Meredith Hall has managed to distill courage from raw pain, and then somehow write this gem of a book about the experience . . . A stunning book . . . You must read it." -Lola Furber, Maine Women's Journal
"Meredith Hall is like a Geiger counter ticking along the radium edge of these recent decades. She gives us self as expert witness-Without a Map is smart, sharp, and redemptively honest." -Sven Birkerts, author of The Gutenberg Elegies and My Sky Blue Trades
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