Softcover book. 165 pages.  

A RELUCTANT LIFE, A WIFE’S JOURNEY THROUGH LOVE AND LOSS” IS A PROFOUNDLY FELT AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN CHRONICLE THAT IS A QUIETLY POETIC BRAVE ACCOUNTING OF THE PROCESS AND PERMUTATIONS OF GRIEF. 

YVETTE NACHMIAS-BAEU IS PARTICULARLY ADEPT AT MAKING DEEPLY PERSONAL MOMENTS — LIKE SORTING THROUGH DIETER’S SHOES AFTER HIS DEATH, OR REARRANGING THE BEDROOM THEY SHARED IN A BURST OF ANXIOUS ENERGY — UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZABLE. IT IS EASY TO IMAGINE ONESELF IN HER PLACE, AND THERE WERE TIMES I HAD TO STOP READING TO CLEAR AWAY THE TEARS. THIS BOOK IS POWERFUL AND IT IS LIKELY TO PROMPT PERSONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF LOVE, THE PEOPLE WE CHOOSE TO TRAVEL WITH ON LIFE’S JOURNEY, AND WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE BECOME IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS. IT SHOULD BE EMPHASIZED THOUGH, THAT WHERE THE BOOK IS DIFFICULT, IT IS NOT UNRELENTING. LIKE GRIEF ITSELF, THE EMOTIONS EXPRESSED IN HER WRITING EBB AND FLOW; PROFOUND DESPAIR IS BALANCED BY PROFOUND GRATITUDE FOR THE LIFE, LOVE AND CONNECTION SHE FOUND IN MARRIAGE.

— Fay Trafford, Grace Magazine, The New London Day, CT