Böcker av Kathie Giorgio

"Rich with empathy, humor, and imagination, Giorgio paints a beautiful picture of the afterlife that is a balm for anyone who has ever lost someone." -Marisa Dondlinger, author of Open and Gray LinesIn Heaven, there is a gated community for those who end their lives by choice. This is a complete surprise to 43-year old Hope, who ends her life one morning on the banks of the Fox River in Waukesha, Wisconsin.Hope has always dealt with deep sadness. From childhood on, she visited therapists, doctors, alternative medicine practitioners, Reiki artists, etc., to no avail. In Heaven, God reassures her that he knows what caused the sadness, but he won't reveal it yet.All community residents are required to attend weekly group therapy. Hope's first group is led by Virginia Woolf.Several of the book's chapters tell the stories of other members of this group. Filled with many moments of striking humor, uplifting realizations, and difficult challenges, Hope finds her way in Heaven. She meets many people like herself, who help her restore her forgotten artistic talent and passion, and God himself, who is amazingly human in the most inhuman of ways. Hope finds understanding and forgiveness, and most importantly, friends.

Covering the full and rich experiences of a woman's life, this collection includes poems that were nominated for Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net awards. Some poems were also included in exhibitions, such as the Poetry Leaves exhibit in Waterford, Michigan. The poem "Curves" was performed on stage at the Turner Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by professional actresses in an event in support of women and girls with eating disorders. Divided into sections, the poems lead the reader through the full experience of a romantic relationship, from attraction to devastation. Other poems express the experience of birth, both through being a mother and being a writer. Two poems intensely immerse the reader into what it's like to have breast cancer. The interaction with the earth is included too, in a section on nature, both outside in the world and inside the soul. Whether the poems are the bright burst of haiku, or the longer prose poem journey from teenage angst to old age, there will be echoes of familiarity and resonance for every reader.

In this story told through poetry, a gang-rape throws a teenage girl into adulthood on a path of promiscuity and abusive relationships. Giorgio incorporates several poetic forms, including haiku, villanelle and prose poem, to capture the shadow of a difficult past coloring the present and dimming the possibilities for a positive future. When the woman finally finds the courage to say no to abuse and submission, she faces herself and discovers her own worth. She learns to put herself first, even if it means being alone.

Imagine being an "e;other woman"e;, and then finding out that you're not the only one. There have been many other women, before you and even standing alongside you right now. Jack learned early that one is never enough. Each chapter tells the experience of someone affected by Jack's trysts. Some of the women are married, some single, some divorced. The ages vary as Jack grows older. Then the reach goes further, to the ripple effect of hurt caused by infidelity. There is an adult son Jack never knew he fathered. There's also a bartender on the cusp of meeting the woman of his dreams, only to have Jack whisk her away by saying just the right thing. And there is a doctor who is shocked by Jack's abandonment of her patient, one of the 'other women' with breast cancer. There are the first two wives, who run into each other thirty years after the first was replaced by the second. And there is the third wife, who is still married to Jack. Jack's mother also speaks, at the beginning and the end. All Told tells more than the story of infidelity. It goes beyond the typical triangle of husband, wife, and lover. As the stories grow and involvements become more interconnected and convoluted, the question of who is cheating on who and why becomes more difficult to answer. Each chapter reveals another secret. But every secret has two sides, and in some cases, even more than that.