Completely Lost

by Jessica Swan

"Polished and evocative ... Swan renders the desolation of mourning exceedingly well." -KIRKUS REVIEWS

Julia is a ghostwriter who pens autobiographies for her famous, eccentric clients as she struggles with feelings of emptiness brought on by her mom’s death. Since grief does not exist in a vacuum, Julia must balance mourning with her demanding career, her newlywed marriage, and a new mother-in-law, without falling apart. Laced with Ancient Greek mythology and witty, defensive humor, Completely Lost is an powerful story about grief— from its lonely depths to the emotional transformation that can emerge.

357 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2016

About the author

JESSICA SWAN is an American novelist, playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Known for crafting authentic, visually-striking stories for stage & film, Swan’s upcoming work includes musicals that employ dance as a function of the narrative. Rooted in myth and psychology, Swan’s dreamlike stories translate the performing & visual arts across multi-platforms to resonate in meaningful ways for today’s audience.

Swan conceived and wrote the libretto for "Sugar Hill: The Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker" (premiered December 2023 at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago), a dream-story told in dance, set to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, with orchestrations/arrangements by Grammy Award-winner John Clayton and three-time Tony Award-nominee Larry Blank for a live 17-piece jazz orchestra and a 31-person cast choreographed by a team of world-class choreographers.
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"4 STARS. Like jazz itself, this show is just so darn American, infusing The Nutcracker with a boundless joy and optimism, all embodied in its extraordinary rhythm." - The Chicago Sun Times
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Swan holds a rhetoric degree from U.C. Berkeley and has published three books: The Big Book of Motivation Games (McGraw-Hill Companies) co-authored by a senior research psychologist as an addition to the best-selling The Big Book of Business Games series; Dear Isabelle (Harbor House Books); and Completely Lost (Odette Books). She is a former writer for Psychology Today magazine and has co-authored work published in the academic journal The Behavior Analyst. Her novels are featured on NPR, San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times, and spotlighted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal as a must-read. Swan lives in New York City.
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Reviews

[Auggie Swanger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most amazing and well-written books of all time! Highly recommend this book!

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this 3 stars because the story itself was so so, but Oh my God! did she ever nail the soul searing grief one feels upon losing their mother. There were several paragraphs that really hit it straight on.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book touched my soul in a way that I cannot put into words. It inspired emotions I don’t normally locate while reading. Jessica Swan is a treasure and I will continue to be a faithful reader as long as she writes what she has to say. Much love for this book!!