A primary care physician weaves the stories of her patients, colleagues, and friends into this moving memoir about motherhood and family.
Third Place Books welcomes physician and author Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, for a conversation about her new book, Held Together: A Shared Memoir of Motherhood, Medicine, and Imperfect Love. Held Together recounts Dr. Thompson's complicated path to parenthood as a young doctor many years ago, combined with the stories of her patients, medical colleagues, and friends. Ranging from devastating to triumphant, from tear-stained to too-awkward-not-to-laugh, from nearly unimaginable to universal, these stories capture the extraordinary moments hidden within ordinary lives. Rebecca will be joined in conversation by Seattle author, scientist, and advocate Amber J. Keyser.
This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!
About Held Together. . .
A primary care physician's moving memoir of navigating a complicated path to motherhood, interwoven with the stories of twenty-one of her patients, friends, and medical colleagues—and sharing the intimate truths of their diverse perspectives on being part of all kinds of families, born and built and chosen.
Seventeen years ago, when Rebecca Thompson endured a string of life-threatening pregnancy losses and rare medical conditions, her training as a physician didn’t protect her from feeling isolated and overwhelmed. What she longed for was a community of women—or even one encouraging story—to reassure her that she wasn’t alone.
Deciding to create the community she couldn’t find in her own time of need, Dr. Thompson reached out to friends, patients, and medical colleagues and asked them to share the stories of their personal journeys to parenthood, as well as stories of how their families grew and changed and thrived as they faced challenges beyond those early years. Held Together explores the intersections of these brave, resilient women’s lives with Dr. Thompson’s own as they encounter a vast range of unexpected turns and obstacles, including fertility issues, adoption, fostering, surrogacy, multiples, abortion, stepparenthood, chronic disease, mental illness, the death of a child, the death of a spouse, and so many moments where grief may threaten to consume us—until joy sometimes surprises us.
The extraordinary stories of ordinary women reveal that, while our individual circumstances may be unique, our experiences are universal in so many ways: we are creating life, raising children, and sustaining families, even as we search for reassurance that we are not alone in our struggles. Held Together offers a place of healing that welcomes every kind of family, a refuge where we make meaning out of our stories and embrace the belief that life can be beautiful in spite of—and often because of—all its complexities and imperfections. Our foundations may not always be strong, but together, we are.
Praise for Held Together. . .
"Rebecca Thompson’s moving book proves that there are as many different ways of becoming a family as there are mothers—a personal, compelling reminder of why women’s reproductive health care matters, and why one size does not fit all”
—Jodi Picoult, author of By Any Other Name
"Immersive, compassionate, and vulnerable, Held Together invites us to walk with Dr. Thompson as she navigates her own journey to parenthood and the beautiful, messy, uplifting stories of the families she cares for along the way."
—Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
"This touching, beautifully written work will help many people who have endured loss or complicated paths to parenthood. They are sure to find experiences that resonate with them."
—Library Journal
Rebecca N. Thompson, MD, is a family medicine and public health physician who specializes in women’s and children’s health. Throughout her career, she has sought opportunities to use written and spoken words to make complex medical topics accessible to a wide range of audiences. Held Together is the result of a decade-long collaboration with her patients, friends, and colleagues to share stories of the many ways that family life can take unexpected turns. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she spends her free time wandering through green spaces, reading in cozy nooks, playing unreasonably complicated board games, repurposing found objects, and accompanying her husband and children on all-weather adventures near and far.
Amber J. Keyser, PhD, is a former ballerina and evolutionary biologist who cares deeply about the intersection of art and science and the ways these disciplines can unlock how the world works. As the author of fifteen books of fiction and nonfiction for tweens and teens, she has focused her work through the years on building sex-positive and consent-focused sex education, dismantling rape culture, and exploring the commodification of the female body in history, fashion, and media. She’s been named a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, has appeared on the main stage at the Portland Book Festival, and has garnered many starred reviews as well as publication in a wide range of print media. She lives in Seattle, Washington, where she can most often be found writing, reading, paddling a canoe, practicing aerial silks, or running with her dog, who looks very much like a Muppet.
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