Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember

November 15, 2016
The stroke that hit Lee at age 33 left no visible signs of trauma, but it still changed her life forever.A decade ago, the stealthy heart condition secretly lurking deep within the author since birth created a blood clot that shot through her body and lodged itself in her head, where "it killed a part of my brain." Lee was standing in a hardware store parking lot at the time, thinking how odd it was that the shiny red snowblowers on display were suddenly and inexplicably "rotated ninety degrees." What follows is the author's emotionally explicit and intensely circumspect chronicle of how she dealt with what doctors later determined to be a thalamic stroke. "In those first few weeks," writes Lee, "I was lost without knowing I was lost. I was searching with a deep belief that all would be well, not out of resilience or hope but out of ignorant bliss....My world was that [hospital] room, and in that room my struggles had little measured impact." Unable to retain information, suffering from aphasia, and repeatedly rereading the same page of Slaughterhouse-Five over and over again, Lee eventually realized that she had to learn to confront older, deep-seated attitudes about her body and brain. She contemplates the years slavishly devoted to using her prized brain to subdue a seemingly undesirable body. That introspection, in turn, opened new doorways onto troubled relationships with her traumatized parents and increasingly distant husband. Forced to compensate for the dead part of her brain, Lee slowly achieved a new sense of gratitude for the body she had previously so reviled and mistreated. The journey of self-discovery is given an illuminating boost when the hole in her heart is finally repaired. With careful thought and new understanding, the author explores the enduring mind-body connection with herself at the nexus of it all. A fascinating exploration of personal identity from a writer whose body is, thankfully, "no longer at war."

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January 1, 2017
At 33, Lee suffered a stroke that would alter the course of her life. After ignoring her symptoms for days, Lee went to the hospital and learned devastating newsa hole in her heart allowed a clot to travel to her brain, restricting the flow of oxygen. Part of her brain was dead. The woman who used to memorize license plates for fun could no longer remember a conversation she had 15 minutes ago. Over the months and years to come, Lee faced a difficult recovery. Completely dependent on her husband, Lee's only outlets were her writing and the notes she diligently kept. This fearless memoir is pieced together using these writings, Lee's only memories of the months after the stroke. Her engaging chronicle not only tells the story of one woman's recovery but also makes a difficult topic accessible and relatable. Lee expertly explains how the brain works and how even a damaged brain can adapt. Her narrative is both scientific and emotional, revealing the wonders of biology and the power of the human spirit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)