Geraldine Brooks' memoir 'Memorial Days' chronicles the year she grieved husband Tony Horwitz

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published May 25, 2026 at 12:01 PM EDT

Click here for the original audio and to read a book excerpt.

In the early days, months and years after author Geraldine Brooks‘ husband Tony Horwitz died, she took care of life’s bureaucracy: taxes, medical insurance and household issues. She comforted family and helped her children through the trauma of suddenly losing their father.

Then, after three years went by, she knew it was time for her to concentrate on her own grief. So she packed up and headed to Flinders Island in remote Tasmania, and concentrated on her own mental health. Her memoir of that year is “Memorial Days.”

Host Robin Young spoke to Brooks when the book was released in 2025. It’s now out in paperback.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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