The Flower Bearers: A Memoir

by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

In this moving memoir, an acclaimed poet and novelist gives words to unnamable kingdoms of grief and joy, turning an impossibly difficult chapter of her life into a remarkable story of sisterhood, love, and growth.

On September 24, 2021, Rachel Eliza Griffiths married her husband, the novelist Salman Rushdie. On the same day, hundreds of miles of away, Griffiths’ closest friend and chosen sister, the poet Kamilah Aisha Moon, who was expected to speak at the wedding, died suddenly. Eleven months later, as Griffiths attempted to piece together her life as a newlywed with heartbreak in one hand and immense love in the other, a brutal attack nearly killed her husband. As trauma compounded trauma, Griffiths realized that in order to survive her grief, she would need to mourn not only her friend, but the woman she had been on her wedding day, a woman who had also died that day.

In the process of rebuilding a self, Griffiths chronicles her friendship with Moon, the seventeen years since their meeting at Sarah Lawrence College. Together, they embraced their literary foremothers—Lucille Clifton, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, to name a few—and fought to embrace themselves as poets, artists, and Black women. Alongside this unbreakable bond, Griffiths weaves the story of her relationship with Rushdie, of the challenges they have faced and the unshakeable devotion that endures.

In The Flower Bearers, Griffiths inscribes the trajectories of two transformational relationships with grace and honesty, chronicling the beauty and pain that comes with opening oneself fully to love.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Grief, Friendship

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 20, 2026

About the author

Rachel Eliza Griffiths is a multi-media artist, poet, and novelist.

She received the MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and is the recipient of numerous fellowships including Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Kimbilio, Cave Canem Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony, and Yaddo.

Her literary and visual work has been widely published in journals, magazines, anthologies, and periodicals including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times, Best American Poetry 2020, and many others. Griffiths is widely known for her literary portraits, fine art photography, and lyric videos.

Reviews

[DianaRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

it is always hard to “rate” a memoir, especially one filled with an intense and immense amount of tragic loss such as rachel eliza griffiths’, but despite her grief, griffiths perseveres, which ignites hope in readers willing to acknowledge and embrace her strength.

i also listened to the audio, and i always appreciate the author narrating their own story.

[Qian Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I inhaled The Flower Bearers in a single sitting. With the lyricism of a poet, the sensitivity of an artist, and the intimacy of a faithful friend, Rachel Eliza Griffiths has penned a tribute to love and loss. The Flower Bearers offers us a searing reminder that to live is to insist on love relentlessly, in the face of tragedy and grief. This is a wonder of a book.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flower Bearers: A Memoir, from Rachel Eliza Griffiths, is many stories in one: the tale of a young black girl becoming a woman who wants to write; the story of her passionate friendships during the years of her education and beyond, especially the very close friendship that became a sisterhood with Kamilah Aisha Moon who would become a well known poet; and the great love she found in her life with Salman Rushdie. Mixed with the stories of love and joy, success and happiness, are tales of frustration, loss, grief, mental illness and the hard work of gaining back health after trauma. She married Rushdie less than a year before the nearly fatal attempt on his life. Her wedding day, perhaps the happiest day of her life, unknown to Eliza at the time, was the day of Aisha’s death. So many wounds.

This is an emotional story, written beautifully at times by the poet-author. At other times it becomes a raw emotion filled statement of hurt, self analysis, fear and hope. Rushdie is her lodestar. Recommended for those who enjoy memoirs, especially literary memoirs. Be aware that Griffiths’ memoir reflects the trauma she lived through with her losses and she voices these fully, eloquently, powerfully.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is very difficult to rate a memoir. It’s hard to relate and keep from judging how someone experiences and responds to events in their life.

I understand the loss of a best friend having a devastating affect on our lives. This memoir in my opinion depicts the responses and behaviors of a person with the luxury of privilege. In one year of my life I lost five close family members including a spouse, both parents, sister and uncle. I had a small child and a job and life had to go on. There wasn’t the luxury to curl up and drop out of life’s responsibilities indefinitely. Crying and withdrawing for years wasn’t an option. I wanted to scream “put your big girl panties on a grow up” so many times reading this book.

I am not a fan of poetry, nor am I familiar with any poets. That being said, I am probably a bigger critic than most. The entire middle of this book dragged as the author went into detail page after page listing famous poets and places where readings, workshops and auditions were held.

I have never heard of her famous husband. I did feel very badly to read of his attack and wish them a long life with much love. The writing was excellent, even though the book was a hard finish for me.

[Sacha · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book is one I won't soon - or likely ever - forget. It's deeply emotional, revealing, and powerful. Not every reader will have the tolerance for this content, but those who do should jump right in. Also, I'm not sure any person thinks they have the ability to survive what Griffiths has, and yet... if Griffiths can live it, we can witness.

Incoming readers may be aware of basic facts about the author that include her previous work and, perhaps, the fact that she's married to an incredibly famous writer (and personality in general). While both of these details - of course - play significant roles in her life, they are not the focal point of this work, and while they are the details by which I knew Griffiths at the start, they won't be the items I take with me.

This is a book about trauma, grief, relentless loss, mental illness, friendship, all forms of love, grit, and personal evolution. Griffiths writes in depth about the ways in which our relationships shape us and about what we choose to reveal and hold back in certain circumstances. Her relationship with her mother, her best friend, her dog, and her current husband are all highlights of these explorations,

I knew so little about Griffiths when I started this read, and the discovery process made the journey even more impactful. I recommend limiting added exposure to the author's life and experience on the way in. Let her tell you what happened and what it means.

This is a hard book because it is honest and life puts us through the paces: some of us more than others. Readers who can handle it (and when I tell you that if CW or TW ever impact your choices, you need to look at them for this one) should crack this as soon as they're able. I'll be thinking about this one and feeling grateful to Griffiths for sharing for a long, long time.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Lauren Chrisney at Penguin Random House for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

[Wendy Wisner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flower Bearers is a searing, raw book about sudden loss, violence, and grief. It was engrossing and incredibly candid. As difficult as the events depicted were, there is also so much love. I also really enjoyed hearing about the author's life as a writer and what it means to have writer-sister-friends who understand you on a deep and spiritual level. This book is written by a poet and you can tell. I loved the section where she drops punctuation rules and where it feels like we are suddenly in the middle of a poem. I felt like the ending was maybe a bit rushed. I didn't need a pat resolution, but I wanted to understand a little better where the author is right now in terms of these losses and traumas. This was the first book of Griffith's I read, and I'm excited to read more of her work.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Erricka Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Release Day!

This memoir was phenomenal. It's clear that Rachel is a poet because the writing in this is so beautifully done. I originally didn't think I would enjoy a book about grief because the emotions it often involves are ones I tend to avoid. However, I found myself flying through these pages and rooting for Rachel the entire time.

We are introduced to Rachel at such an important milestone in her life - her wedding. Yet her bestie, Aisha, isn't answering the phone, and Rachel immediately knows something is wrong. From there, we journey into Rachel's past to witness the many ways in which grief has permeated her life, as well as the budding relationship between Rachel and Aisha. Be prepared to experience a full range of emotions while reading this.

Quotes I've enjoyed:

"I understand that grief is love that has no place to go." - Regina King
"but "flower bearers" are girls or women who carry the flowers that accompany the dead."
"the trauma of our generation was attached to our ancestors, too. Each killing took a piece of us into its history, dragging us to the bottom of the slave ship, to the cradle of the Atlantic's cemetery, and we could neither forget nor forgive this. The memory of poetry itself served as our jury and forbade us to look away."

Rachel's debut novel is currently one of my 26 to read in 26, and I'm really looking forward to spending more time with her writing.

Do yourself a favor and pick this one up if you enjoy lyrically filled memoirs, but be sure to check the content warnings if you struggle with books that mention suicidal ideations, death of parents, or dissociative identity disorders.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Crystal (Melanatedreader) Forte' · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started the Flower Bearers by Rachel Eliza Griffiths in shock and great interest. Now I’m finishing The Flower Bearers in tears, deep guttural pain, and unwell my lawd it’s too good and shows how grief can come in waves of beauty and pain. What a memoir! 👏🏾👏🏾 So well done and how she ties in the title my Lawd I’m just in shambles 😩 Just go read it 😭😭 (Trigger warnings everywhere)

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

A raw and heartbreaking memoir about the loss of a best friend who is like a sister, this book was so emotional for me. Beautifully written, I learned so much about Aisha, Rachel, their friendship and history, and Rachel’s marriage. I was so caught up in each chapter I couldn’t wait to read on to the next one to learn more. This book is a beautiful tribute to a stunning friendship.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Mary Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read the synopsis saying that this was a memoir by Salman Rushdie's wife, I immediately wanted to read it because of Salman Rushdie. I wanted to know what it was like to be wedded to the great Salman Rushdie, but this book is so much more than that! First of all, I can't believe I've never heard of Rachel Eliza Griffiths. I love poetry, and she happens to be a poet. She is also a gifted writer, and this is a beautifully written memoir in which she recounts some very vulnerable moments of her life in such a poignantly descriptive way. I read much of this book with tears in my eyes. She details her upbringing, friendships and relationships, losses, and personal struggles with mental illness. She discloses really personal experiences in such an authentic way.

This book is beautiful. I loved it. I can't wait for it to come out in hardcover so I can buy it and keep it forever. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

[Pujashree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I'm not sure I have the words to describe how profoundly I felt this biomythography (Griffiths doesn't call it that, but refers the term coined by Audre Lorde, and it feels appropriate to the scope of this work). I'm ashamed to admit that I am not quite tuned into the world of Black poetry as I should be, and only heard of Rachel Eliza Griffiths in the context of her being my literary hero Salman Rushdie's wife, and how besotted he is with her magnificence in his work based on the events around the horrific attack on him a couple of years ago. In her work, Griffiths not only brings you the other half of that beautiful love story, but also masterfully writes about a tapestry of life and living and becoming a Black, queer, female poet and artist in America, during times of great reckonings, global and personal. Her love story with Rushdie is juxtaposed against her relationship with her soul sister, poet Aisha Moon, and the tragic passing of Aisha on the day of her wedding. With that inflection point, Griffiths tells a tale of two young aspiring poets navigating their place in the tribe of Black poets, authors, thinkers across time, and growing together through shared joys, sorrows and struggles with personal demons and loving each other fiercely. This is a story that only a poet can tell, even in prose, carrying you with the gentle yet formidable waves of deeply vulnerable imagery and a touch of spirituality that feels all too tangible. There is so much about her life and experience of grief that are nothing like mine and can never be, and yet I recognize the profound feeling of connection to an ancient tribe of Others and the specific urges in grieving a soul sibling. It gutted me and made me feel seen and less alone and part of a tribe of those who are made to feel like they are the wrong kind of too much.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ebook ARC. I will not stop raving about this for a long long time.

[Cindi]

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing an ARC.

In this memoir, poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths paints a portrait of her life, describing her life through the grief of losing her mother, getting married without the knowledge of her best friend's passing earlier that morning, and almost losing her husband to an attack, followed with how she opened herself up to new kinds of love. This book is very sad, but well written, bringing the reader into the author's life and sharing emotions. The author paints a picture of the culture of black poetry in New York that I had difficulty understanding, as so different from my life. But the book was a beautiful look at love and grief told in lyrical and beautiful manners.

3.5 stars

[Nelly]

Should I read it ?Is it worth or the cover is just niccceee !!!

[Natalie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautiful❤️

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, rounded up

[Stephanie Zahrbock]

Mentioned in Suleika Jaouad’s newsletter 9/2025

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had yet to hear of Rachel Eliza Griffiths before this work, but from the first few pages, I knew she was a poet. I will staunchly stand by the fact that poets write some of the most incredibly poignant longer works, especially memoirs, and "The Flower Bearers" was a joy to read from end to end.

In her memoir, Griffiths shares the personal and private journey of her life - her coming of age and development as a poet and writer, as well as the many individuals and relationships that have been key to her growth. And for her, her close friend Kamilah Aisha Moon, was foundational to her life, from the moment they met as graduate students in New York. In many of the pages that follow, we come to see the deepening friendship and love that grows between these two women, and the way that they nurture both their persona, artistic, and professional lives. The two share a love of the same poets and authors, as well as art and media, and when Griffiths gets married to author Salman Rushdie, she knows Aisha will be at her side... until she doesn't appear. The unexpected passing of her friend forces her to confront unimaginable loss and grief - until less than a year later, Griffiths is once again shocked to learn of the attempted murder of her husband, and the repercussions the attack will have on their lives going forward.

Griffiths prose is stunning and lyrical, not only the choice of words but the way the sentences flow and end, the pauses and rises deliberately chosen. It is what captivated me from the beginning and held me through to the final few sentences. The memoir is not strictly chronological, as she seamlessly between time periods and moments, but helps to tie together her present with her past. I loved her descriptions of those around her, from her family, her friends, and her first encounter and eventual marriage to Salman, as they feel true-to-life, and the relationships she forms that much more concrete. She goes through so many themes - love and friendship, mental illness, loss and grief, trauma, art and literature - that are somehow condensed in this deceptively short work.

A recommended read when "The Flower Bearers" is published in January 2026!

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

What initially attracted me to this memoir was its connection to Salman Rushdie, an author whose work I admire. Yet its intimate and searching internal monologue and lyrical prose proved to be a most pleasant surprise. Ultimately, the Rushdie connection is only a minor part of a more expansive and thoughtful work. Griffiths does indeed render her relationship to Rushdie with remarkable restraint and tenderness. Her vantage point is not the sensationalized attack Rushdie suffered at the hands of a knife-wielding zealot and its aftermath, but expands into the fragile, loving intimacy of their shared life suddenly shattered by violence. Unfortunately, this event becomes just one devastating point around which her internal monologue must reorganize itself. Others include the Covid pandemic and the deaths of her mother and a beloved friend.

The untimely death of her close friend, the poet Kamilah Aisha Moon, deepens the memoir’s meditation on artistic kinship and shared ambition. Its grief is quieter but no less profound than the attack on Rushdie because it captures the particular ache of losing someone who understood her work from the inside and bore witness to her becoming. This loss sharpens the memoir’s sense of isolation, while also underscoring how art is sustained through community as much as solitude.

In her writing, Griffiths is less interested in narrative momentum than in reflection characterized by pauses for moments that carry immense emotional weight for her. Her prose emphasizes the complexity of living with loss and her private negotiations of survival, memory, and meaning. The quiet unfolding of these thought gives the book sizeable force.

Central throughout also is Griffiths’ experience as a Black woman and artist navigating spaces that are often indifferent, if not hostile, to her presence. She captures the quiet exhaustion of having to absorb racial and gendered pressures while sustaining her own artistic integrity. Creative doubt and negotiations between visibility and self-realization inevitably accompany such struggles.

Ultimately, this is a memoir that feels both deeply personal and quietly expansive. It is a testament to artistic survival, shared vulnerability, and the difficult grace of continuing to bear flowers after much challenge.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Flower Bearers swallowed me whole.

When it comes to her personal life, Rachel Eliza Griffiths self-describes as an extremely private person, so it did not come as a surprise to me that I wasn't familiar with her name. I had not yet come across her poetry collections, and I hadn't heard her name in passing as Salman Rushdie's wife. After reading The Flower Bearers, I won't forget her name.

On the surface, the meat of her story is presented as a series of rapid tragedies: the death of her mother, the death of her best friend's—Kamilah Aisha Moon's— mother, Moon's death on the weekend of Griffith's wedding to Rushdie, and Rushdie's violent, public stabbing while lecturing in New York. Moon's death and Rushdie's stabbing happened within a calendar year of one another. The heart of Griffith's story, however, is lovingly presented over the years preceding these inordinate losses. She lovingly chronicles her nearly twenty year friendship with Moon through their growth as writers, as poets, as black women, and as sisters. She shares so many memories of laughter, struggle, curiosity, and support that built the intricate latticework of their sisterhood and allow Moon to sparkle on the page. She keeps much of her relationship with Rushdie private, but their adoration for each other shines through what she's chosen to share.

Griffiths' identity as a poet and an artist burns through The Flower Bearers from the very first pages. Her prose breathes with stunning lyricism. She peppers the text with poetry of her own—and of Moon's—so effortlessly that it never feels like an interruption or an insertion; it belongs. Her grief is palpable, raw, and, like most grief, imperfect. Her journey to connect the self she knew with this new, post-tragedy self is an impossible feat she faces armed with some of the most cherished aspects of her friendship with Moon: identity, community, sisterhood, and the legacies left by black female writers that nurtured their love for the written word. Devastating and inspiring and beautiful.

thanks to net galley and the publisher for the arc.

[Firetruckmama · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, for which I thank them.

“The Flower Bearers” is a memoir by Rachel Eliza Griffiths. I had never heard of Ms. Griffiths before, but I thought the synopsis of this book was interesting. I’m not a huge fan of poetry and I know very little about poets - so the list of names at clubs and workshops while possibly interesting to others felt more like reading a list of names. Yes, maybe I should look them up - but there were a lot of names. I can tell that Ms. Griffiths is an excellent writer - she should be a writer as her prose and flow are easy to follow and she explains things on so many levels. And while I’m the first person to say that grief hits everyone differently - and emotions are key to Ms. Griffiths, I don’t know if I felt assaulted by her emotions at times or just overwhelmed by how I was sunk into them (I feel deeply but at times her words hit me like a smothering weighted blanket). I’m going to rate this a three star read - middle of the road because while it wasn’t a badly written book (on the style alone I’d give it a higher rating) but the time jumps and name dropping distracted me from what I felt was the main core of the memoir.

[Hollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for this ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

A powerhouse memoir about art, sisterhood, love, and grief. Griffiths masterfully navigates her 17 year long chosen sister relationship that tragically ends with the death of Kamilah Aisha Moon on the day of Griffiths’ wedding to Salman Rushdie. Griffiths paints such a vivid picture of her grief surround the lost of Moon that it draws the reader into her physical, emotional, and mental state at the time which is often hard to read. It would be enough for Griffiths to document this moment in her life but during her bereavement her husband was attacked and almost died. The journey through that moment and past was beautifully done.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I picked this book up but I found it hard to put down. There is a deep vulnerability to this memoir and Griffiths is not afraid to share all of the beautiful and ugly details. This was a really powerful read and I look forward to exploring more of Griffiths’ work in the future.

[Joy Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her memoir “The Flower Bearers”, poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths recounts two shattering events: the sudden death of her dearest friend and chosen sister, poet Kamilah Aisha Moon, on Griffiths’s wedding day, and the brutal attempted murder of her husband, Sir Salman Rushdie, just eleven months later. Moving through the unfathomable overlap of devastating loss and profound love, Griffiths writes with striking honesty, presence, and grace.

As trauma compounds, she recognizes the many layers of grief she must confront—mourning her friend, the self she was before that fateful day, and the husband she married versus the man he became after the attack. Along the way, she honors her literary foremothers (Lucille Clifton, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker) and bravely shares her experience living with dissociative identity disorder.

“The Flower Bearers” is a luminous, deeply personal meditation on love, loss, survival, and the choices that shape who we become. I highly recommend it! ♥️

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Rachel Eliza Griffiths paints a painful but realistic portrait of grief throughout her memoir. Written beautifully, Griffiths describes her life through her grief - losing her mother; getting married without knowing her best friend had passed earlier that morning; and almost losing her husband to a brutal attack - and how she has opened herself up to a new kind of love. Although the subject matter is incredibly sad, everything was handled with grace, making you feel as though you were right there, experiencing the same emotions. I would not have picked this book up otherwise, but I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it. I will be checking out her other work and (finally) reading her husband's memoir about his attack.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, and Random House for a copy of this book. I received this ARC for free and am leaving a review voluntarily.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is very difficult to review. The memoir is centred around two defining events in the the author’s life: the sudden unexpected death of her best friend, on the author’s wedding day, no less, and later, the violent attack on her husband who happens to be Salman Rushdie. Rather than treating these moments as bookends, Griffiths shows how they bleed into one another, reshaping how she understands love.

Much of the book focuses on the friendship and I think I was more interested in the aftermath of the incident involving her husband. This may stem from not being familiar with the author herself or her friend.

The writing is poetic and deals with very difficult subject matter, but it’s honest and raw and shows that dealing with grief is not a simple matter. 3.75 stars

Thank you Penguin Random House for the ARC

[Sue Purbrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flower Bearers is a frank outpouring of Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ grief at the death of her close friend, Aisha, and, months later, the stabbing of her husband, the renowned Salman Rushdie.
I really enjoyed parts of this book. I loved reading about the incredible intimacy of the friendship between the two girls – Rachel describes a unique relationship she was wonderfully lucky to experience.
The author has a wonderfully poetic, literary writing style. She writes about grief so authentically, and without the drama she infuses into other aspects of the book. It’s open and raw. I found her portrayal of grief, and well as her dissociative identity disorder, to be real and powerful.
I found myself skimming through her descriptions of her early friendship with Aisha. I was hoping for more about Rushdie, instead of which he plays a fairly minor part in this memoir of grief. I found the minutiae of Rachel and Aisha’s lives a little long-winded– but that’s from someone who loves terse writing, so take it from whence it comes.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel Eliza Griffiths writes her memoir with a raw edge of grief and passion, describing the loss of her best friend, another writer Aisha, at a time that should have been filled with joy. Beginning with her wedding day, she then spends most of the balance of the book describing her friendship and why the loss of that friend cut so deep. The fact that her groom is one of the most celebrated writers in the world, Salman Rushdie, only adds to the high emotional impact of the book, and the attack on him after they've been married for less than a year adds to the cruelty she experienced. She is unrelenting in documenting her own struggles with mental issues, but she also displays a core of strength that comes through in her beautiful writing.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know anything about the author or her story before reading this book. The author married her husband on the same day that her best friend died suddenly. The friend was supposed to be at the wedding. As the author was working through that grief and being a newlywed, her husband was brutally attacked and nearly died.

This memoir is about loss and grief as well love. The author has had some really hard things happen in her life, but I loved the way that she is working through that grief. This book helps remind me to show your love to your loved ones while you have the chance.

Thank you to Rachel Eliza Griffiths, NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: January 20, 2026

[Tonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the more devastating stories of grief I’ve experienced. Definitely not the best timing for me , however, the beauty of her words and rawness of her emotions kept me listening.
Eliza Griffith experiences a devastating loss when her chosen sister dies on the day of her wedding. The story toggles between her and her husband’s story and the journey of her and her best friend Moon. I felt their struggles as Black women in pursuit of their passions as poets. I enjoyed their discussions of literature and literary greats such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.
Along with the sorrow, she also writes of her deepest loves, making it a story of loss and resilience.

TW: emotional & physical effects of grief

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written memoir of literature, sisterhood, and Blackness, and also grief, trauma, and mental illness. Griffiths takes us on a joyful tour through that New York poetry scene dreamt of by many an English major, then plunges us into the depths of suicide ideation and Dissociative Identity Disorder. A very intense but ultimately uplifting read.

Note: the attack on Griffiths' husband Salman Rushdie is not covered until close to the end. For the full story, see his memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder .

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful treatise on life and death. Griffiths happiest day is also her saddest day. Marrying a man who sees her and loves her deeply and losing her best friend is hard to reconcile much less retell to an anonymous audience. Yet, she deftly takes us through her early life, interior life, archival ancestral communication and much more. One of my fav passages that sort of encompasses this memoir, to me, begins like this “life demands deaths, and births, each day” and ends “and it is good that one day I will end”.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early access. Pickup your copy on Jan 20,2026.