Journey to the Edge of the Light: A Story of Love, Leukemia and Transformation

by Cristina Nehring

She was a romantic and a globetrotter, a daredevil and a writer on the edge of literary fame. Then her life was irreversibly transformed—and so was her philosophy. In this wholly unexpected personal account, the author of A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-first Century (2009) offers us a Vindication of Life as inspiring as it is heartbreaking. The story of Cristina and her little daughter, Eurydice, is a tale of redemption and self-reinvention. It is about expanding definitions of love--and it is about confronting death. Not least, it speaks to us of life’s sweeping ironies: Sometimes bad luck is the new good luck, and the realization of your worst fears may be the greatest gift you can receive.


Biography: Nehring first acquired national attention through her fiery criticism in the pages of Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times Book Review. A "compassionate contrarian," she won many awards for her politically incorrect cultural and literary essays. Her first book, A Vindication of Love (Harper Collins, 2009) argues for a bolder, braver, wilder form of modern loving, drawing extensively on literary and historical analysis. It was published to wide acclaim and translated into several languages. Nehring also works as a travel writer for Condé Nast Traveler, and holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in Paris and Los Angeles.

Genres: Nonfiction

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2011

About the author

A highly acclaimed and consistently provocative critic and essayist, Cristina Nehring has written for the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, the New York Times Book Review, Condé Nast Traveler, New York Magazine, the American Scholar, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and the London Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in Paris, Los Angeles, and Chania, Greece with her daughter, Eurydice.

Reviews

[Gail D. Reineke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary read !

Poignant, immersive, yet down-to-earth in the parallels drawn between types of love. But what makes this so grand is the pure joy and love for life this little girl has.

[Nenette · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter's classmate recently died of leukemia. She was just 16. One other classmate wrote a piece relating what transpired in their class from the time they learned of her condition up to when they were told of her passing. I was really moved by that short story that I cried. It was just so sad.

That's not the case in this short story. This short story, though it relates a single mom's (the author) struggles through her baby daughter's ordeal with leukemia, it is still full of hope, full of promise.

The prose was not exactly to my liking, but the pictures included in the appendix more than compensates for it.

[Hanako · Rating 4 out of 5]

somehow i had thought this was a full length book, and so i was really surprised when i looked down and saw that i was already half way through...but anyway, it's heartbreaking to read about a baby going through so much but Nehring does manage to keep the story hopeful. Leukemia is an issue close to my heart, after doing several Team In Training runs and working at the LLS office. Ultimately, the story is a lot about the love a parent feels for a child - as shown through Nehring's daughter's medical struggles.

[LaToya · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this story ended, I wished for more. Eurydice sounds like an amazing little girl who loves life. Her mother never left the world bring her down, she kept her head up and stayed optimistic when others were not.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love to use my Kindle for items I would not normally read...This Kindle short was a beautifully depicted story about a mother and her down syndrome daughter whom developed a form of leukemia..touched my heart!!

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short story about what she learns as her little girl goes through a health crisis.

[Anna Peschong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but beautiful story of pure & perfect love.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational novella of a life changing experience and the depth of love one feels for their child. Beautiful read

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very short story. It tells of her journey with her daughter.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little story read it in a few hours.

[Jac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is why I love my kindle, to be able to read beautiful short stories like this. This brought me to tears.

[Catherine Krause · Rating 5 out of 5]

It leaves you hopeful and wishing for more!

[❦Dawn❦ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful short book about the fight of a single mom and her child that survives against all odds.