The Light of the World
In The Light of the World, Elizabeth Alexander finds herself at an existential crossroads after the sudden death of her husband. Channeling her poetic sensibilities into a rich, lucid prose, Alexander tells a love story that is, itself, a story of loss. As she reflects on the beauty of her married life, the trauma resulting from her husband’s death, and the solace found in caring for her two sons, Alexander universalizes a very personal quest for meaning in the wake of loss.
The Light of the World is at once an endlessly compelling memoir and a deeply felt meditation on the blessings of love, family, art and community. It is also a lyrical celebration of a life well-lived and a paean to the enduring gift of human companionship. For those who have loved and lost, or for anyone who cares what matters most, The Light of the World is required reading.
Elizabeth Gilbert, Michelle Obama, The Wall Street Journal (as selected by Dominique Crenn), BrainPickings, PBS Newshour, The Millions, Publisher’s Marketplace, The New Yorker, Library Journal, People.com, Shelf Awareness, The Root, Newsday, NPR.org, The Boston Globe, St. Louis Dispatch, Publishers Weekly, The Guardian, The Huffington Post
A Best Book of the Year Pick
The New York Times Book Review
"Elizabeth Alexander creates intellectual magic in poem after poem."
Kirkus
"With tenderness and fierce poetic precision, [Alexander] realizes a simple truth: that death only deepens the richness of a life journey that must push on into the future. A delicate, existentially elegiac memoir."
Publishers Weekly
"A moving tribute to her late husband's memory and a deeply felt meditation on loss, love and literature."
Booklist (Starred Review)
"A radiant book of love's everlastingness and art's infinite sustenance."