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Memoir Emphasizes Love In Face Of Adversity
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Published: September 7, 2008
"The Geography of Love," by Glenda Burgess (Broadway Books, $22.95)
Author Glenda Burgess' newest release, "The Geography of Love," is a stunningly personal memoir, beautifully written and deeply moving. This story of powerful love in the face of adversity includes such gems as: "Ken had taught me the meaning of Masahide's line of Zen poetry, 'Barn's burnt down, now I can see the moon.' With Ken at my side, nothing was ever that bad."
In December of 1987, Glenda Burgess reinvents herself. Tired of constantly traveling for her job and hoping to fall in love and start a family, she resigns from her State Department job and moves home to Spokane, Wash., from Washington, D.C., in order to be closer to family and reconnect with her roots. She takes a job as a technical writer for a local company, hoping a low-stress job will allow her to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and author.
Shortly after arriving in Spokane, Glenda meets a handsome stranger in the cheese department of a local deli. A few months later, their paths cross again, and it turns out that Ken is actually an executive at the company where Glenda works. Smitten, Glenda and Ken begin a whirlwind, albeit discreet romance, discovering and developing their love outside of the work sphere.
Fabulous as he is, Ken is not without complications. He's 13 years older than Glenda, has a troubled relationship with his daughter from a former marriage, has been married and widowed twice, and was the primary suspect in the death of his second wife, an unsolved murder from 1981.
Glenda and Ken marry. She quits her job and takes up writing full time. They buy a house, settle down and have two children. They deal with family issues together - Glenda's difficult mother and Ken's difficult daughter.
Glenda is realizing her dream alongside the man of her dreams. Ken's successful career prompts some moves, but the family thrives and ultimately settles down back in Spokane, where their story began.
Ken develops a chronic cough and fatigue. A visit to the doctor results in a chest X-ray and the discovery of a spot on his lung. Ultimately he's diagnosed with cancer, and the couple vow to fight it with everything they have in order to preserve the life and the family they have built together.
With two young children, Ken's fight with cancer and Glenda's mother also being diagnosed with leukemia, Glenda quickly narrows her focus to what is important in her life. Learning to consciously focus on what is good and enjoy what she has is a challenging lesson in the face of so much adversity. Emotionally supporting herself and her family through this test and finding ways to help Ken fight his cancer put enormous pressure on Glenda.
The resulting memoir, documenting the love and the fight to hold on to it that Ken and Glenda waged, is truly a story of hope. It's the story of the hope that the Burgess family clung to along their journey and the faith they shared in the power and endurance of their love. But it is also a story of hope for the reader - the hope to have this kind of loving ally at one's side during any adversity that life may bring.
Stephanie Bonnett of Kansas City, Mo., is a freelance writer.
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