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Seeking Rapture: Scenes from a Woman's Life
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
In this exquisite book of personal reflections on a woman’s life as a child, wife, and mother, Kathryn Harrison, “a writer of extraordinary gifts” (Tobias Wolff), recalls episodes in her life, exploring how the experiences of childhood recur in memory, to be transformed and sometimes healed through the lives we lead as adults. At the heart of Seeking Rapture is the notion that a woman’s journey is a continuous process of transformation, an ongoing transcendence and re-creation of self.
In this exquisite book of personal reflections on a woman’s life as a child, wife, and mother, Kathryn Harrison, “a writer of extraordinary gifts” (Tobias Wolff), recalls episodes in her life, exploring how the experiences of childhood recur in memory, to be transformed and sometimes healed through the lives we lead as adults. At the heart of Seeking Rapture is the notion that a woman’s journey is a continuous process of transformation, an ongoing transcendence and re-creation of self.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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220 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn Harrison
47 books296 followersKathryn Harrison is the author of the novels Envy, The Seal Wife, The Binding Chair, Poison, Exposure, and Thicker Than Water.
She has also written memoirs, The Kiss and The Mother Knot, a travel memoir, The Road to Santiago, a biography, Saint Therese of Lisieux, and a collection of personal essays, Seeking Rapture.
Ms. Harrison is a frequent reviewer for The New York Times Book Review; her essays, which have been included in many anthologies, have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, Salon, and other publications.
She lives in New York with her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison, and their children.
She has also written memoirs, The Kiss and The Mother Knot, a travel memoir, The Road to Santiago, a biography, Saint Therese of Lisieux, and a collection of personal essays, Seeking Rapture.
Ms. Harrison is a frequent reviewer for The New York Times Book Review; her essays, which have been included in many anthologies, have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, Salon, and other publications.
She lives in New York with her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison, and their children.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 23, 2013
Harrison has a style that is unflinchingly honest; that was obvious in her memoir about her affair with her father (The Kiss). This book is also a memoir of sorts: it doesn't cover all of her life--she doesn't touch on her relationship with her father, for instance--but it does focus on her relationships with her mother, her grandmother and her daughter; i.e., scenes from a woman's life.
I almost didn't finish Seeking Rapture. Sometimes the author's honesty is a little hard to take, especially when it comes to her mother. She herself comes across as more than a little neurotic and self-absorbed, particularly in her childhood. I kept wondering when she would reveal how she finally made peace with her demons, but she never did (unless you count the last line in the book), leaving me to wonder if she overstated her childhood craziness. Because she seems to be well-adjusted now.
This is not a long book, so I was a little disappointed that she wrote at length about things like trying to kill a tick and her battle to rid her household of lice. She describes both very well, but I would have liked to have read more about her relationship with her husband and her children. She does give us snippets about these, but I would have liked more.
She is a master at recalling the feel of things: what her visits to Saks Fifth Avenue were like when she was a child, the impressions that she had of her mother over the years, and, in the last chapter, what childbirth feels like. I felt like I was reliving my own experiences!
I said I almost didn't finish this book. But for all my criticism, I'm glad I did. The last chapter--and the last line--made up for a lot.
I almost didn't finish Seeking Rapture. Sometimes the author's honesty is a little hard to take, especially when it comes to her mother. She herself comes across as more than a little neurotic and self-absorbed, particularly in her childhood. I kept wondering when she would reveal how she finally made peace with her demons, but she never did (unless you count the last line in the book), leaving me to wonder if she overstated her childhood craziness. Because she seems to be well-adjusted now.
This is not a long book, so I was a little disappointed that she wrote at length about things like trying to kill a tick and her battle to rid her household of lice. She describes both very well, but I would have liked to have read more about her relationship with her husband and her children. She does give us snippets about these, but I would have liked more.
She is a master at recalling the feel of things: what her visits to Saks Fifth Avenue were like when she was a child, the impressions that she had of her mother over the years, and, in the last chapter, what childbirth feels like. I felt like I was reliving my own experiences!
I said I almost didn't finish this book. But for all my criticism, I'm glad I did. The last chapter--and the last line--made up for a lot.
June 23, 2020
Urm ... I haven’t read a memoir before and I think I know why. Sorry but I didn’t enjoy this I can’t believe I actually finished it , the tick the lice ? Those areas went on far to long ... I see some people enjoyed it so I’m glad the author has some people on her side but I thought it was all very strange .. 👀
May 27, 2017
It was barely 200 pages and when I was done I wished it was twice as long.
June 25, 2019
Her writing is literary! I loved the reflective and entertaining nature of this memoir!
March 7, 2020
Really enjoyable but quite strange at times...
July 23, 2020
I’m a huge fan of Kathryn Harrison’s memoir work. True Crimes & The Mother Knot are tremendous. This collection is earlier in her career and not as strong.
December 31, 2023
the kiss was incomparably better, and this book makes more sense to read as a sequel to it.
April 14, 2025
Well written set of biographical essays which are loosely connected by the theme of grandmother-mother-daughter relationships. Very frank and visceral accounts by a survivor.
February 25, 2015
Harrison leaves no wound unprobed, no savage glee uncelebrated, no nit unpicked (literally) EXCEPT the part of her life where she had an affair with her own father!!! How could this be left out?! Well, she did write a whole book about the affair. These essays mainly address her life as a daughter/granddaughter, a wife, and mother. That might not sound so riveting by comparison, but Harrison is ruthless, as the subject and as her own chronicler. She unpacks her childhood and her relationship to the grandparents who raised her and the mother who abandoned her. She writes unsparingly about herself, her neuroses, her fierce joys and equally fierce depths. Throughout, Harrison's writing is crystalline.
February 11, 2013
Breathtaking memoir. I read this entire book on my way to England from California and I could hardly put it down. Her writing style is magnetic and her story is very compelling. She writes honestly and sometimes harshly about a life that took her into strange yet beautiful circumstances. Good book for a book club too.
Want to read
December 18, 2012Another book from the author of "The Kiss". I didn't read the book but thumbed through it and read her defending the affair she had with her father. I thought, "no way"....so I returned it to the library and will not check it out again. I am so glad I didn't buy this book from Amazon !
July 9, 2013
Found the book a bit disjointed, jumping back and forth in time. Also the author's relationship with her mother and grandmother and her lack of self-esteem made for uncomfortable reading at times and I didn't really enjoy the style or the way it was written.
March 23, 2014
first edition, signed by author
October 6, 2013
I so appreciate Kathryn's honesty and writing. Her prose is arresting and inspiring.
June 4, 2017
**spoiler alert**
Depressing. it might have been cathartic for her writing it, but I'm glad it was only 210 pages long. And way too much detail on the tick incident. I skipped those pages.
Depressing. it might have been cathartic for her writing it, but I'm glad it was only 210 pages long. And way too much detail on the tick incident. I skipped those pages.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews