Book Review: A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

Book Review:

A Three Dog Life: A Memoir by Abigail Thomas

Book Description: When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions.

This touching memoir is uniquely written in a free flowing style that can be a bit hard to follow at times as the chapters do bounce back and forth in time. It may be meaningful in the sense that it plays with your mind to recall where the author is going and what time period she is referring to. The author opens up her most honest and deepest thoughts and relates those to her daily events after her husband was injured in a car accident. It does make you stop and think how quickly life can change and in an instant your life can be going down an unknown path and new journey. I have a medical background and have worked directly with patients with Traumatic Brain Injury and found that the authors descriptions of experiences as a patient and family member are both raw and real. As a reader, I could empathize with Rich's short term memory loss and how that effected him and Abigail. The author gained great comfort from her dogs and her knitting and she talks about the effect of these things in her life. This is truly a very moving and touching memoir, keep the tissues handy as it will touch your heart.