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Child of Earth and Starry Heaven
Winner of the Wandering Aengus Book Award
Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is the story of a daughter coming to terms with her mother’s dementia. Binder Iooks to mythology, science, history, fiction and poetry to try to find beauty and meaning even as her mother’s cognition fails. Sad and joyous, it is a meditation on what makes us human.
"Binder masterfully blends classical references to the disease with modern medical attempts to find a cure. Far more moving, though, is Binder’s own emotions as she struggles to define her own role as her mother slips into Alzheimer’s oblivion....Child of Earth and Starry Heaven should be mandatory reading for anyone working in a memory care unit. I would also highly recommend it for anyone with a family member afflicted with the disease."
--Michael Tidemann, Dubuque Telegraph Herald
“The author writes with the probing lyriciism of a poet... Readers will admire Binder's refusal of sentimentality, observant eye and determination to grasp answers that seem always on the verge of evaporation. An illuminating and moving meditation on dementia.”
—Kirkus (“Our Get It”)
"The prose is infused with love, exhibiting the grace Binder found in others and for herself...Despite the book's inevitable ending, there is no sense of tragedy to be found--only kinship."
--Foreword Reviews
“How can a book of grief so profoundly embolden our senses? This writing draws our attention to every precious moment of a life, and in doing so, enriches our own immeasurably. Read L. Annette Binder’s devastatingly exhilarating chronicle of her mother Helena’s last days—it will remind you to breathe, to be stunned that you can breathe."
--Michelle Latiolais, author of Widowand She
"In Child of Earth and Starry Heaven, Binder turns the sadness of loss and tragedy into a thing of great beauty. It is the story of a daughter’s love for her mother suffering from dementia, and it is told skillfully, carefully, with enormous heart, grace, kindness and compassion. This is a hauntingly powerful work of the sort only the very best ofwriters may hope to achieve in a lifetime."
—James Brown, author of Apology to the Young Addict
"The devastating consequences of Alzheimer’s disease have profound implications for patients, their families, and society. Drawing on insights ranging from poetry and literature to neuroscience and neurology, L. Annette Binder provides an eloquent first-hand account of her mother’s decline into dementia. Filled with rich insight into the importance of memory and consequences of forgetting, Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is an essential book that both moves and informs."
—Daniel L. Schacter, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Seven Sins of Memory Updated Edition (2021)
“In this gorgeous memoir that bears witness to her mother’s decline and death, L. Annette Binder allows us space to explore a fundamental truth of all our 'We all build our own paradise if we’re lucky, and every one of us must leave it much too soon.' In prose that deftly combines personal memory with research and poetry, Binder weaves a tapestry that reveals the many textures of love.”
—Brenda Miller, author of A Braided Essays on Writing and
Form
“A beautiful and deeply moving memoir about a mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s and a daughter’s quest to honor her mother through time… Binder writes with heartfelt love for our common humanity… She is a masterful writer, elegant, clear, purposeful, and wise. I didn’t want the book to end.”
—Sandell Morse, author of The Spiral Shell
“Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is a profound meditation on identity and consciousness. Binder's prose is so exquisite that it borders on poetry as she charts the last few months of her mother's life and descent into Alzheimer's disease. As devastating and terrifying as dementia can be, Binder manages to find moments of grace and humor in the last precious days. This is a memoir that explores a dark topic, yet leaves the reader full of optimism and thankful for the moments of brightness.”
—Pamela Klinger-Horn, Valley Bookseller and Host of Literature Lovers’ Night Out
“Ancient Greeks tell of Lethe, the river of forgetting. Today’s scientists speak of fibrils. Plaques. Almost lovely words, but when present in the brain, they confuse memory and shroud the mind …though not necessarily, as L. Annette Binder finds, the essence of what it means to be human. Her mom’s favorite color was burgundy. She almost always wore pearls and was never seen without lipstick, even when shoveling snow. These shards are all the more precious as she falls into Alzheimer’s and remembers none of it. With grace and tenderness, Binder paints a portrait of her mother, revealing the woman’s verve and making our witness to her decline quietly heartbreaking. Binder’s self-portrait is compass...
Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is the story of a daughter coming to terms with her mother’s dementia. Binder Iooks to mythology, science, history, fiction and poetry to try to find beauty and meaning even as her mother’s cognition fails. Sad and joyous, it is a meditation on what makes us human.
"Binder masterfully blends classical references to the disease with modern medical attempts to find a cure. Far more moving, though, is Binder’s own emotions as she struggles to define her own role as her mother slips into Alzheimer’s oblivion....Child of Earth and Starry Heaven should be mandatory reading for anyone working in a memory care unit. I would also highly recommend it for anyone with a family member afflicted with the disease."
--Michael Tidemann, Dubuque Telegraph Herald
“The author writes with the probing lyriciism of a poet... Readers will admire Binder's refusal of sentimentality, observant eye and determination to grasp answers that seem always on the verge of evaporation. An illuminating and moving meditation on dementia.”
—Kirkus (“Our Get It”)
"The prose is infused with love, exhibiting the grace Binder found in others and for herself...Despite the book's inevitable ending, there is no sense of tragedy to be found--only kinship."
--Foreword Reviews
“How can a book of grief so profoundly embolden our senses? This writing draws our attention to every precious moment of a life, and in doing so, enriches our own immeasurably. Read L. Annette Binder’s devastatingly exhilarating chronicle of her mother Helena’s last days—it will remind you to breathe, to be stunned that you can breathe."
--Michelle Latiolais, author of Widowand She
"In Child of Earth and Starry Heaven, Binder turns the sadness of loss and tragedy into a thing of great beauty. It is the story of a daughter’s love for her mother suffering from dementia, and it is told skillfully, carefully, with enormous heart, grace, kindness and compassion. This is a hauntingly powerful work of the sort only the very best ofwriters may hope to achieve in a lifetime."
—James Brown, author of Apology to the Young Addict
"The devastating consequences of Alzheimer’s disease have profound implications for patients, their families, and society. Drawing on insights ranging from poetry and literature to neuroscience and neurology, L. Annette Binder provides an eloquent first-hand account of her mother’s decline into dementia. Filled with rich insight into the importance of memory and consequences of forgetting, Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is an essential book that both moves and informs."
—Daniel L. Schacter, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Seven Sins of Memory Updated Edition (2021)
“In this gorgeous memoir that bears witness to her mother’s decline and death, L. Annette Binder allows us space to explore a fundamental truth of all our 'We all build our own paradise if we’re lucky, and every one of us must leave it much too soon.' In prose that deftly combines personal memory with research and poetry, Binder weaves a tapestry that reveals the many textures of love.”
—Brenda Miller, author of A Braided Essays on Writing and
Form
“A beautiful and deeply moving memoir about a mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s and a daughter’s quest to honor her mother through time… Binder writes with heartfelt love for our common humanity… She is a masterful writer, elegant, clear, purposeful, and wise. I didn’t want the book to end.”
—Sandell Morse, author of The Spiral Shell
“Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is a profound meditation on identity and consciousness. Binder's prose is so exquisite that it borders on poetry as she charts the last few months of her mother's life and descent into Alzheimer's disease. As devastating and terrifying as dementia can be, Binder manages to find moments of grace and humor in the last precious days. This is a memoir that explores a dark topic, yet leaves the reader full of optimism and thankful for the moments of brightness.”
—Pamela Klinger-Horn, Valley Bookseller and Host of Literature Lovers’ Night Out
“Ancient Greeks tell of Lethe, the river of forgetting. Today’s scientists speak of fibrils. Plaques. Almost lovely words, but when present in the brain, they confuse memory and shroud the mind …though not necessarily, as L. Annette Binder finds, the essence of what it means to be human. Her mom’s favorite color was burgundy. She almost always wore pearls and was never seen without lipstick, even when shoveling snow. These shards are all the more precious as she falls into Alzheimer’s and remembers none of it. With grace and tenderness, Binder paints a portrait of her mother, revealing the woman’s verve and making our witness to her decline quietly heartbreaking. Binder’s self-portrait is compass...
- GenresMemoirNonfictionHealth
186 pages, Paperback
Published April 11, 2025
4 people are currently reading
3398 people want to read
About the author
L. Annette Binder
7 books219 followersL. Annette Binder was born in Germany and grew up in Colorado Springs.
Her first novel The Vanishing Sky (Bloomsbury, July 2020) is inspired by events in her own family history.
Her story collection Rise came out in 2012. Her short stories have been included in the Pushcart Prize anthology and the PEN/O. Henry Prize anthology and have been performed on Public Radio's "Selected Shorts."
Her first novel The Vanishing Sky (Bloomsbury, July 2020) is inspired by events in her own family history.
Her story collection Rise came out in 2012. Her short stories have been included in the Pushcart Prize anthology and the PEN/O. Henry Prize anthology and have been performed on Public Radio's "Selected Shorts."
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 7, 2024
Confession time: I requested and received this book on the same day, then postponed reading it, because I was scared of what I would find. You see, my mum is in a full time care facility, battling dementia. But curiosity won me over so here I am, recommending this book to everyone with a heartbeat. It's good. No, it's better than good! I puts into words all the freak and the funny moments I had with my mum that I forgot about. This could have been my story from start to finish. It's a memoir, it's a lovestory, in a strange way it's the comforter and caregiver to us left behind.
Like the author I too read up on everything I could find in research on the brain. Each publication more difficult to understand than the last one.
Not so Child of Earth and Starry Heaven; this amazing book will give it to you straight. The love, the hurt, the laughter, the tears. Consistant in its compassion until the very end.
There's the mother-daughter story, the care facility and its quirky residents, supported by fitting poems and snippets of research. And yes, you will find out where the beautiful title comes from! All this written at a pleasant pace in easy to understand language.
Thank you L. Annette Binder, Netgalley and Wandering Aengus Press for the ARC.
Like the author I too read up on everything I could find in research on the brain. Each publication more difficult to understand than the last one.
Not so Child of Earth and Starry Heaven; this amazing book will give it to you straight. The love, the hurt, the laughter, the tears. Consistant in its compassion until the very end.
There's the mother-daughter story, the care facility and its quirky residents, supported by fitting poems and snippets of research. And yes, you will find out where the beautiful title comes from! All this written at a pleasant pace in easy to understand language.
Thank you L. Annette Binder, Netgalley and Wandering Aengus Press for the ARC.
May 3, 2025
This book is uplifting in its description of the mother-daughter bond, and heartbreaking when that bond ruptures because of dementia. I savored each painful and beautiful word. The memoir evokes memories of my own mother disappearing before my eyes to this wretched disease. Binder delves into Current scientific research, historical perspectives, poetic references, and the emotional consequences to loved ones and caregivers. She also looks at the facilities that care for victims when they can no longer be safe or cared for by family. A truly compassionate and valuable book for those traveling this devastating path.
March 4, 2025
As someone who is freshly grieving the death of a parent, this book really moved me. The author beautifully weaves in pieces of culture and history with her own family's past and her relationship with her mother as she sinks deeper into Alzheimer's disease. I highlighted so many parts of this book it feels like I highlighted the entire thing. Absolutely one of my favorite memoirs of 2025.
With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
September 21, 2025
Near the end of Child of Earth and Starry Heaven, L. Annette Binder draws solace from a poem that’s 3,000 years old. The Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s Binder’s husband who thinks there might be something to learn from the moment when the hero Gilgamesh meets the tavern-keeper Siduri. Gilgamesh, Binder writes, is filthy and exhausted from his long search to find a way to avoid death when Siduri counsels him to stop his quest because eternal life is reserved for the gods, not humans.
Binder gets the message: “Live and love and look for everything beautiful in your world, and hold it close … We will all be orphaned in the natural course of events. We are all children of the earth and starry heaven, and the measure of our lives will be not what we remember but how we lived.”
Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is Binder’s moving account of watching her mother’s slow decline from Alzheimer’s, a disease that “goes in only one direction.”
I started Binder’s account with a bit of trepidation—what was I possibly going to learn beyond the obvious, that Alzheimer’s is insidious and cruel? I need not have worried. Within a few pages, I knew I was in the hands of a writer bringing heart and intelligence to the page. This account is laudably unsentimental except for a few powerful moments that will absolutely punch you in the gut. Binder simultaneously keeps distance from the topic like a dispassionate reporter but also gives a full, three-dimensional look at her mother and the “stranger” who slowly takes over her body.
Binder gives us dollops of history and science about the disease and how Alzheimer’s fits in the broader category of dementia. “The truth is, absent a genetic link to the disease, we don’t yet know most of the time why one person suffers from the disease and another doesn’t. Scientists are navigating only the coastline, and dementia remains a vast unexplored continent,” she writes.
Binder walks us through the variety of treatments she brings to bear, including the purchase of an acoustic vibrating chair liner that plays “tones and clicks” at the right frequency because doing so may work with mice and also a head piece with lights that flicker at 40 Hz for the same reason. What son or daughter wouldn’t try anything or everything that seems to make sense, that might make a difference, that might hold off the coming wave of memory loss?
Writes Binder: “The truth seems simpler to me but much more terrifying. There’s no knowing what will happen to me or to anyone else; dementia is like an earthquake or a tsunami or a cell deep inside us that goes rogue and metastasizes for reasons we may never know. We can improve our odds through the choices we make, but we can’t be sure of anything in this world. Dementia serves as a reminder of how small we are against the forces of nature in all their beauty and their destructive power … My mothers’ decline is the starkest possible reminder to be grateful for all the things I haven’t lost.”
Binder offers tidbits from history, science, philosophy, poetry, literature. We get insights from how ancient Greeks viewed forgetfulness and comparisons to Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.
Binder starts collecting books about the brain, including the autobiography of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Nobel Prize-winning Spanish neuroscientist who spent his life examining brain cells and drawing them in detail. Binder brings us observations from Eric Kandel and Daniel Shacter, too, before giving us a few lines from Emily Dickinson.
We feel Binder grasping for meaning in the misery—in art, history science, something—even as her mother fades away. “I’m a ghost from a distant world, a relic, and she looks right through me and all my petty concerns,” writes Binder. “She turns toward the window instead and the faded patch of sky.”
Child of Earth and Starry Sky is brilliantly, smoothly written. This is memoir writing at its best as Binder reflects on her own family, her own upbringing, and her own memories, too. Binder is a keen, discerning observer of herself and others. Her experience as a poet is obvious. Even if you are not struggling with a family member caught by Alzheimer’s, Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is highly recommended for its heart, humanity, and moving thoughts about appreciating all we’ve got because, well, none of us are going to be here forever.
Binder gets the message: “Live and love and look for everything beautiful in your world, and hold it close … We will all be orphaned in the natural course of events. We are all children of the earth and starry heaven, and the measure of our lives will be not what we remember but how we lived.”
Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is Binder’s moving account of watching her mother’s slow decline from Alzheimer’s, a disease that “goes in only one direction.”
I started Binder’s account with a bit of trepidation—what was I possibly going to learn beyond the obvious, that Alzheimer’s is insidious and cruel? I need not have worried. Within a few pages, I knew I was in the hands of a writer bringing heart and intelligence to the page. This account is laudably unsentimental except for a few powerful moments that will absolutely punch you in the gut. Binder simultaneously keeps distance from the topic like a dispassionate reporter but also gives a full, three-dimensional look at her mother and the “stranger” who slowly takes over her body.
Binder gives us dollops of history and science about the disease and how Alzheimer’s fits in the broader category of dementia. “The truth is, absent a genetic link to the disease, we don’t yet know most of the time why one person suffers from the disease and another doesn’t. Scientists are navigating only the coastline, and dementia remains a vast unexplored continent,” she writes.
Binder walks us through the variety of treatments she brings to bear, including the purchase of an acoustic vibrating chair liner that plays “tones and clicks” at the right frequency because doing so may work with mice and also a head piece with lights that flicker at 40 Hz for the same reason. What son or daughter wouldn’t try anything or everything that seems to make sense, that might make a difference, that might hold off the coming wave of memory loss?
Writes Binder: “The truth seems simpler to me but much more terrifying. There’s no knowing what will happen to me or to anyone else; dementia is like an earthquake or a tsunami or a cell deep inside us that goes rogue and metastasizes for reasons we may never know. We can improve our odds through the choices we make, but we can’t be sure of anything in this world. Dementia serves as a reminder of how small we are against the forces of nature in all their beauty and their destructive power … My mothers’ decline is the starkest possible reminder to be grateful for all the things I haven’t lost.”
Binder offers tidbits from history, science, philosophy, poetry, literature. We get insights from how ancient Greeks viewed forgetfulness and comparisons to Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.
Binder starts collecting books about the brain, including the autobiography of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Nobel Prize-winning Spanish neuroscientist who spent his life examining brain cells and drawing them in detail. Binder brings us observations from Eric Kandel and Daniel Shacter, too, before giving us a few lines from Emily Dickinson.
We feel Binder grasping for meaning in the misery—in art, history science, something—even as her mother fades away. “I’m a ghost from a distant world, a relic, and she looks right through me and all my petty concerns,” writes Binder. “She turns toward the window instead and the faded patch of sky.”
Child of Earth and Starry Sky is brilliantly, smoothly written. This is memoir writing at its best as Binder reflects on her own family, her own upbringing, and her own memories, too. Binder is a keen, discerning observer of herself and others. Her experience as a poet is obvious. Even if you are not struggling with a family member caught by Alzheimer’s, Child of Earth and Starry Heaven is highly recommended for its heart, humanity, and moving thoughts about appreciating all we’ve got because, well, none of us are going to be here forever.
July 19, 2025
Filled with labyrinths and minotaurs, Catullus and compassionate witnessing, this moving elegy for Binder's mother during her decline from Alzheimer's is a must read for anyone who has done care work or will be asked to do care work (most likely, all of us).
"My memory is stronger than the dementia, and the irony isn't lost on me that a disease of memory failure must be repudiated by the act of remembering," Binder writes, and remembers, through classical myths, ghosts and dreams, scientific studies and accounts of long days spent thrifting with her mother Helena. Plaque and neural pathways, lebkuchen and her parent's love story, Binder renders grief with humor and care; she narrates the search to cute a loved one's illness before ultimately turning towards the unanswerable (with what the poets might call "the heart-mind").
This book is an illness narrative, yes, and an elegy, yes, but most importantly asks: how do we remember who someone is before Alzheimer's, while also honor who they are as they unravel? What does it mean to live fully, presently, and in love, while the world pulls us towards chaos and uncertainty? This book stays with the questions, and will stay with me.
"My memory is stronger than the dementia, and the irony isn't lost on me that a disease of memory failure must be repudiated by the act of remembering," Binder writes, and remembers, through classical myths, ghosts and dreams, scientific studies and accounts of long days spent thrifting with her mother Helena. Plaque and neural pathways, lebkuchen and her parent's love story, Binder renders grief with humor and care; she narrates the search to cute a loved one's illness before ultimately turning towards the unanswerable (with what the poets might call "the heart-mind").
This book is an illness narrative, yes, and an elegy, yes, but most importantly asks: how do we remember who someone is before Alzheimer's, while also honor who they are as they unravel? What does it mean to live fully, presently, and in love, while the world pulls us towards chaos and uncertainty? This book stays with the questions, and will stay with me.
June 4, 2025
Gorgeous. In this deeply relatable story, Binder gives shape to the kind of melancholy familiar to anyone who has grieved. She gracefully weaves together themes from ancient classical texts, anecdotes and modern sources. As her mother's journey unfolds, Binder researches dementia, talks to experts, searches for the thread that will lead to a cure, but most of all, she stays present with her mother and experiences the loss. I came away thinking about what a profound gift it is to accompany someone through to the end of an illness like Alzheimer's. This book is a tribute to her mother's love but also a gift to readers who may walk this path as well.
May 26, 2025
Child of Earth and Starry Heaven by novelist, short story writer, and now memoirist L. Annette Binder is a must read for those struggling to understand and cope with loved ones who are struggling with Alzheimer's dementia.
Binder has written a beautiful and deeply moving memoir about her mother's descent into Altzheimer's and Binder's quest to honor her mother as she was before AD and during her long struggle.
Binder is a masterful writer; elegant, clear, purposeful and wise.
Full disclosure, Binder is a dear friend. I blurbed this. I only blurb books I can praise.
Binder has written a beautiful and deeply moving memoir about her mother's descent into Altzheimer's and Binder's quest to honor her mother as she was before AD and during her long struggle.
Binder is a masterful writer; elegant, clear, purposeful and wise.
Full disclosure, Binder is a dear friend. I blurbed this. I only blurb books I can praise.
November 14, 2025
In this moving, carefully considered memoir of a daughter confronting her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis, Annette Binder tracks the history of the disease and our understanding of it as she revisits the memories of her mother and the formative events that have contributed to her mother's identity, questioning what part of us is not lost in the final days.
April 13, 2025
If you have lived thru the Alzheimer experience as a daughter especially I'd truly encourage this read. I put sticky notes in many pages hoping someday should this be my end of life story my daughters might pick up, read and know my thoughts. Truly a walk through the experience book/
April 16, 2025
Thank you. Beautifully written, wonderful words put to the journey and navigating the disease that steals our loved ones and leaves their shells. Good read for the soul. Not morbid, not sad. Just a good heartfelt read.
May 27, 2025
Excellent audio for anyone who has dealt with a loved one who suffers with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Well written and informative whether you have experienced this in your past, dealing with it presently or anticipate you might in the future. Highly recommend this book.
February 14, 2025
Nope was fine then started affecting my anxiety so I didn't like
April 14, 2025
This is a beautiful book. Sad, because it confronts terrible loss, but also sweet and filled with wisdom and affection. Everyone grappling with losing a loved one to dementia should read this book.
June 9, 2025
A wonderfully tender and vulnerable book about life with Alzheimer's disease. I highly recommend this book for those with loved ones who have Alzheimer's. The audio book was perfect!
August 7, 2025
Beautiful and heart-achy. If I ever want anyone else to understand what my experience of loving a mom with dementia is like, I will hand them this book.
October 28, 2025
4.8 - Loved the writing style. I felt like I was right there with the author walking through the memory care facility to visit her mother.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews