The Mercy Papers, Robin Romm
The Mercy Papers, Robin Romm
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The Mercy Papers

Author: Robin Romm

Narrator: Ann Marie Lee

Unabridged: 6 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 01/06/2009

Synopsis

When Robin Romm’s The Mother Garden was published, The New York Times Book Review called her “a close-up magician,” saying, “hers is the oldest kind [of magic] we know: the ordinary incantation of words and stories to help us navigate the darkness and finally to hold the end at bay.” In her searing memoir The Mercy Papers, Romm uses this magic to expand the weeks before her mother’s death into a story about a daughter in the moments before and after loss.

With a striking mix of humor and honesty, Romm ushers us into a world where an obstinate hospice nurse tries to heal through pamphlets and a yelping grandfather squirrels away money in a shoe-shine kit. Untrained dogs scamper about as strangers and friends rally around death. The pillbox turns quickly into a metaphor for order; questions about medication turn to musings about God.

The Mercy Papers was started in the midst of heartbreak, and not originally intended for an audience. The result is a raw, unsentimental book that reverberates with humanity. Robin Romm has created a tribute to family and an indelible portrait that will speak to anyone who has ever loved and lost.

About The Author

Robin Romm is the author of The Mother Garden and The Mercy Papers. Her work has appeared in The New York Times; The Atlantic; O, The Oprah Magazine; and elsewhere. She teaches at Warren Wilson College and lives in Portland, Oregon.Ann Marie Lee is a Los Angeles–based actress with television credits that include ER, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and Nip/Tuck. Her stage performances for Broadway national tours and regional theater include Peter Pan, As You Like It, Heartbreak House, and The Cherry Orchard.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Cheryl on December 14, 2011

This is a beautiful book. Romm is a fabulous writer.......more

Goodreads review by Kelli on February 01, 2009

Well written. Interesting but kind of heavy; not a pick-me-up kind of book. Then again, I never expected it to be...still it kind of weighs on my emotions. Gut-wrenching in parts. Very good at conveying what it feels like to lose a loved one. Was hard to read in parts--I relived my own experience in......more

Goodreads review by Adele on October 15, 2014

(2 and a half stars, I guess.) I was annoyed with Romm throughout this short memoir written primarily about the weeks-long period as her mother slowly succumbed to a 9-year battle with breast cancer. I kept reading because I expected Romm would somehow redeem herself. Although she presents her mothe......more

Goodreads review by Christine on February 04, 2011

When I pick up a memoir, my intent is to open myself up to another person's experience, not to judge it. I wasn't driven 'The Mercy Papers' based on the subject matter, but because I was curious about her agent. Perhaps that changes my perspective. Romm writes like the MFA she is, weaving word-pictu......more

Goodreads review by Corinne on February 13, 2014

I first learned of this book via an Entertainment Weekly "Best Books of 2009" list, which I perused while I was sitting in an ICU ward trying to distract myself from the fact that it was looking more and more certain that my reality would soon match up with Romm's. My own mom's passing was very sudd......more

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