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    Marrow: A Love Story
    Marrow: A Love Story
    Marrow: A Love Story
    Audiobook9 hours

    Marrow: A Love Story

    Written by Elizabeth Lesser

    Narrated by Elizabeth Lesser and Sally Field

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The author of the New York Times bestseller Broken Open returns with a visceral and profound memoir of two sisters who, in the face of a bone marrow transplant—one the donor and one the recipient—begin a quest for acceptance, authenticity, and most of all, love.

    A mesmerizing and courageous memoir: the story of two sisters uncovering the depth of their love through the life-and-death experience of a bone marrow transplant. Throughout her life, Elizabeth Lesser has sought understanding about what it means to be true to oneself and, at the same time, truly connected to the ones we love. But when her sister Maggie needs a bone marrow transplant to save her life, and Lesser learns that she is the perfect match, she faces a far more immediate and complex question about what it really means to love—honestly, generously, and authentically.

    Hoping to give Maggie the best chance possible for a successful transplant, the sisters dig deep into the marrow of their relationship to clear a path to unconditional acceptance. They leave the bone marrow transplant up to the doctors, but take on what Lesser calls a ""soul marrow transplant,"" examining their family history, having difficult conversations, examining old assumptions, and offering forgiveness until all that is left is love for each other’s true selves. Their process—before, during, and after the transplant—encourages them to take risks of authenticity in other aspects their lives.

    But life does not follow the storylines we plan for it. Maggie’s body is ultimately too weak to fight the relentless illness. As she and Lesser prepare for the inevitable, they grow ever closer as their shared blood cells become a symbol of the enduring bond they share. Told with suspense and humor, Marrow is joyous and heartbreaking, incandescent and profound. The story reveals how even our most difficult experiences can offer unexpected spiritual growth. Reflecting on the multifaceted nature of love—love of other, love of self, love of the world—Marrow is an unflinching and beautiful memoir about getting to the very center of ourselves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 20, 2016
    ISBN9780062491664
    Author

    Elizabeth Lesser

    Elizabeth Lesser is the cofounder of Omega Institute and the author of Marrow; The Seeker’s Guide; and the New York Times bestseller Broken Open. She has given two popular TED talks and is one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100, a collection of one hundred leaders who are using their voices and talents to elevate humanity. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her family.

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    Reviews for Marrow

    4.5/5

    23 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book was recommended to me by a dear friend who is a palliative care physician. It was recommended to her by a secular nun. These are the 2 threads that run consistently through this touching memoir: faith and medicine. Elizabeth Lesser's younger sister Maggie was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in middle age. Liz turns out to be the perfect donor match. This isn't about her decision process -- there isn't any as she instantly agrees to do this for her sister. It's about the hope for healing -- not just body, but relationships, spirit and mind. "Hoping to give Maggie the best chance possible for a successful transplant, the sisters dig deep into the marrow of their relationship..." In many ways this is Liz's story as much as Maggie's as she recounts the work on her own side that she must do (mentally, spiritually) to make this happen. She includes some family history: 4 sisters total (Katy & Jo) with shifting alliances, somewhat liberal parents and definitely quirky and unconventional parenting in the 60s, growing up in Vermont. All these factors shaped them, and some of them need to be un-done and released. Liz is a former midwife and current leader at Omega Institute, a mind, body, spirit Center with a few locations around the world. If spirituality makes you uncomfortable, then this isn't the book for you, because it is such an essential part of the story. But it is written so well, almost poetic in the introspection it invites, that it doesn't ever feel preachy or new-agey. Clearly this is the approach that worked for Liz and Maggie and she is not proselytizing, but bearing witness. Though the transplant goes well, ultimately the cancer returns, so this also bears witness to Maggie's life and then her death. Very touching and hopeful despite the outcome.
    • 3/5
      Sisters are special people. They share your history. They are part of good memories and bad. You share both love and strife, oftentimes dating back years and years. I can't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be told that not only does your sister have cancer but that without a bone marrow transplant, she will die, and soon. But that is the devastating news Liz Lesser got from her sister Maggie and which she chronicles in her new memoir, Marrow: A Love Story.Liz and Maggie hadn't always had an easy relationship but Liz was as devastated as anyone when the lymphoma that they all thought Maggie had beaten seven years earlier reoccurred. And with the aggressive recurrence, Maggie's only hope was a bone marrow transplant. Each of the three Lesser sisters was tested but it was Liz who was the perfect match. So began the journey of the sisters, a journey through cancer and its treatment but also a journey through love and soul searching, a journey to reconnect as sisters, and a journey to live life fully and intentionally. This memoir, although inspired by Maggie, is more of an examination of Liz's inner life and emotions. It is a combination memoir of both the reality of terminal illness and self-help with a lean towards mysticism. Once Maggie agrees to try the transplant, she and Liz look at healing their years of misunderstandings and resentments in preparation for the transplant, hoping that coming to a forgiving and healing place together emotionally, sharing acceptance and forgiveness, will allow the harvested stem cells to thrive in Maggie.Lesser examines her own journey, her role in Maggie's life, and discusses ways in which to get to the marrow of life and love, weaving all of these together within the same chapters. There are some brief "field notes" of Maggie's from her journal but they are fairly infrequent. And really, the focus here is more Liz than Maggie. It is more about how she viewed her sister and their lifelong relationship than it was about losing this sister she came to understand and respect so much. This made the memoir less emotional than it might otherwise have been given the subject matter. The pieces about Maggie and about Lesser's growing up years were engaging and something to look forward to. The self-help portions were definitely less so for me and dwarfed the life and relationship the book was celebrating. Lesser's spiritual beliefs are evident here but by framing the narrative the way she does, the depth of emotional impact is minimized and depersonalized. The reader needed more of Maggie and what made her who she was, a sister Liz loved and upended her life for, a mother, a wife, a nurse, an artist, an actively dying person who could say that the year after her bone marrow transplant was the best year of her life, and so much more. It would be hard to write a memoir about losing a sister without it being about love and grief and this definitely has that but it also has life, Liz's life and the ways in which making the journey with Maggie changed her forever. Those who don't mind a rather large helping of self-help with their memoirs will really enjoy this a lot.
    • 4/5
      Marrow is a memoir of the author’s, Elizabeth Lesser, relationship with her younger sister Maggie, who is dying from cancer, during the last year of her life. It explores, in depth, the deep connections between siblings and how misconceptions and misunderstanding play a role in their relationship. The healing process that the two women undergo to repair years of hurt is an incredible journey.I admire and respect the amount of honestly and soul searching the author went through to repair the relationship with her sister. My biggest take away from this book is, forgiving is never easy but it releases you in unexpected ways. Disclosure: I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.