If This Were Fiction: A Love Story in Essays

Christman (Borrowed Babies) considers love, loss, and the art of writing in these luminous essays. The narrative is broken into three parts, each of which is named after a poem by E.E. Cummings, and a main thread pertains to the death of Christman’s fiancé in a car accident at the age of 22 and her life after it. In “Going Back to Plum Island,” Christman grapples with the idea that art can be a form of therapy, initially resisting the notion, but eventually accepting it: “in both (good) therapy and writing, we work our way to a kind of cohesion, an order in the senselessness we can live with.” “The Avocado,” meanwhile, is a moving account of the author reckoning with “how much work I had to do before my body was mine” in the wake of her fiancé’s death, and in “The Sloth,” she memorably compares grief to the mammal’s slow crawl: “This slow seemed impossible, not real.” Christman’s writing is moving and poetic, and she has a knack for imbuing profundity into everyday activities, whether slicing an avocado or climbing a hill. Fans of the personal essay shouldn’t miss these intimate encounters. (Sept.)