Crossing The River, Carol Smith
Crossing The River, Carol Smith
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Crossing The River
Seven Stories That Saved My Life, A Memoir

Author: Carol Smith

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 9 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/20/2021

Synopsis

Everyone deals with grief in their own way. Helen MacDonald found solace in training a wild goshawk. Cheryl Strayed found comfort in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. For Carol Smith, a Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist struggling with the sudden death of her seven-year-old son Christopher, the way to cross the river of sorrow was through work. In Crossing the River, Smith recounts how she faced down her crippling loss through reporting a series of profiles of people coping with their own intense challenges, whether a freak accident, a debilitating injury, or a terrifying diagnosis. Smith deftly mixes the stories of these individuals and their families with her own account of how they helped her heal. General John Shalikashvili, once the most powerful member of the American military, taught Carol how to face fear with discipline and endurance. Seth, a young boy with a rare and incurable illness, shed light on the totality of her son’s experiences and, in turn, helps listeners see that the value of a life is not measured in days. This is a beautiful and profoundly moving book, an unforgettable journey through grief and a valuable, illuminating listen for anyone coping with loss.

About Carol Smith

Carol Smith is an award-winning journalist and editor for NPR-affiliate KUOW in Seattle. Previously, she worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Los Angeles Times. Her newspaper work has won dozens of national and regional awards and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize a remarkable seven times, and her writing has appeared in more than a dozen literary journals. She was recently named Editor of the Year by Public Media Journalists Association.

About Cassandra Campbell

Cassandra Campbell is a prolific audiobook narrator with more than 700 titles to her credit. A 2018 inductee in Audible’s inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame, she has won four Audie Awards, has been nominated for a dozen more, and has consistently been an AudioFile Magazine Best Narrator as well as a Publisher’s Weekly Best Narrator of the Year. She has also performed in and directed dozens of plays at theaters across the country.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Krista on November 09, 2020

I would read in theNew York Timesthat in the Khmer language, the term for giving birth —chlong tonle— means “to cross the river”. The phrase startled me. I put the paper down, then picked it up and reread it.Exactly, I thought. This gave me a way to describe my life back then. Losing Christophe......more

Goodreads review by Reid on February 08, 2021

Nothing is more devastating than the loss of a child, I suspect. I suppose this is open to debate and pondering a hierarchy of pain is a fruitless exercise in any case. But we are hardwired to protect and love our children, to the point that even the sacrifice of our own lives to save theirs is some......more

Goodreads review by Fiona on October 23, 2020

This book was an exceptionally challenging book to read. Smith details her journey to coping with the passing of her child by throwing herself into work and telling the stories of others. She then turns those experiences into her book and each event/person helps her grow and cope with her loss. This......more

Goodreads review by Gwen on January 23, 2022

A source of solace and inspiration during a time of deepest despair.......more

Goodreads review by Vanessa on July 29, 2021

This is an intimate, touching yet a powerful person story of the author Carol Smith. Dealing with a loss of a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences that one faces in life and each person deals with it in their own way. Through this book, the author being a journalist, recounts and share......more

Quotes

[An] intimate and humane narrative that should offer solace for readers who have experienced similar circumstances . . . An uplifting group of moving stories.

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