Safekeeping - by Abigail Thomas (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A beautifully crafted and inviting account of one woman's life, Safekeeping offers a sublimely different kind of autobiography. Setting aside a straightforward narrative in favor of brief passages of vivid prose, Abigail Thomas revisits the pivotal moments and the tiny incidents that have shaped her life: pregnancy at 18; single motherhood (of three!) by the age of 26; the joys and frustrations of three marriages; and the death of her second husband, who was her best friend. The stories made of these incidents are startling in their clarity and reassuring in their wisdom.

This is a book in which silence speaks as eloquently as what is revealed. Openhearted and effortlessly funny, these brilliantly selected glimpses of the arc of a life are, in an age of excessive confession and recrimination, a welcome tonic.

From the Back Cover

A beautifully crafted and inviting account of one woman's life, Safekeeping offers a sublimely different kind of autobiography. Setting aside a straightforward narrative in favor of brief passages of vivid prose, Thomas revisits the pivotal moments and tiny incidents that have shaped her: pregnancy at 18, single motherhood of three by the age of 26, the joys and frustrations of her marriages, and the death of her second husband. With startling clarity and unwavering composure, Thomas tells stories made of mistakes and loyalties, adventures and domesticities, of experiences both deeply personal and universal.

This is a book in which silence speaks as eloquently as what is revealed. Openhearted and effortlessly funny, these brilliantly selected glimpses of the arc of life are, in an age of too much confession, a welcome tonic.

Review Quotes

Poetic.... Thomas is an observant and graceful writer. --The New York Times Book Review

Razor-sharp pieces of radiant truth...not so much memoir as a stained glass window made up of scenes garnered from a life. This is an unforgettable portrait of a grown-up woman who has learned how to rejoice in being herself. Reading it, we feel the crazy beauty of life. --Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies

Elegantly framed vignettes that quickly bring us to the essence of a game, bemused woman with a vivid interest in love. --Elle

Safekeeping is a sapphire...pointy, gleaming, in the end, blue.... You know a form is right when, in the end, you can't imagine a story told any other way. Abigail Thomas walks the edge of the form's boundaries; her stories are haunted by adjectives. --Los Angeles Times Book Review

About the Author

Abigail Thomas is the author of the novel An Actual Life and the story collections Getting Over Tom and Herb's Pajamas. She lives with her husband in New York City, where she teaches in the M.F.A. writing program at the New School.