The Middle Place

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am working my way through Kelly Corrigan's backlist after falling in love with her most recent book "Tell Me More". "The Middle Place" did not disappoint. It's just as poignant and real. I love her other book more, but I still found myself so captivated by her experiences getting breast cancer as a young mom while her father also has his own bout with cancer across the country. I think this book might have been rounded from a fourth to a fifth star in the afterglow of "Tell Me More", but I seriously could not stop listening.

The title "The Middle Place" is Corrigan's concept of "that sliver of time when childhood and parenthood overlap.” I am in that place. I am an adult in theory and practice. I have a husband, a son, and a mortgage. I get excited over my Roomba and a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. But I still call my dad for advice and defer to my mom when we're in a room together. I seek both of their affirmations and approval as I learn to parent my own child. I still look around for what I call "certifiable adults" when I walk into a room, sure that it's not up to me to make any decisions for the group. It's a surreal, sometimes confusing, and often beautiful phrase of life. And because Corrigan offers me these types of insights to consider, I am already on to another one of her books. How lucky that she has a couple more to devour.

Happy reading and happy living, whatever place you're in.

[Book 4 - 2019]