The World I Fell Out Of
by Melanie Reid
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Pub Date 7 Mar 2019 | Archive Date 25 Mar 2020
HarperCollins UK, 4th Estate, William Collins | Fourth Estate
Description
‘Brilliant and so, so important. It’s beautiful - full of love and light – and an exploration into not only how, but why we survive, despite everything’
Christie Watson, bestselling author of The Language of Kindness
From the award-winning writer of The Times Magazine's 'Spinal Column': a deeply moving and often darkly funny memoir about disaster and triumph
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW MARR
Is this what it feels like, I thought, losing everything?
Steel shutters were clanging down in my head: I dared not even think about my son, just emerging from his teenage years, or of my sorry future.
But I could safely bear witness and carry on writing in my head. A correspondent from a hidden war.
On Good Friday, 2010 Melanie Reid fell from her horse, breaking her neck and fracturing her lower back. She was 52.
Paralysed from the top of her chest down, she was to spend almost a full year in hospital, determinedly working towards gaining as much movement in her limbs as possible, and learning to navigate her way through a world that had previously been invisible to her.
As a journalist Melanie had always turned to words and now, on a spinal ward peopled by an extraordinary array of individuals who were similarly at sea, she decided that writing would be her life-line. The World I Fell Out Of is an account of that year, and of those that followed. It is the untold ‘back story’ behind Melanie’s award-winning ‘Spinal Column’ in The Times Magazine and a testament to ‘the art of getting on with it’.
Unflinchingly honest and beautifully observed, this is a memoir about the joy – and the risks – of riding horses, the complicated nature of heroism, the bonds of family and the comfort of strangers. Above all, The World I Fell Out Of is a reminder that at any moment the life we know can be turned upside down – and a plea to start appreciating what we have while we have it.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9780008291402 |
| PRICE | £6.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 336 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Joanna P, Reviewer
Before I read this beautiful book I was unsure - wouldn’t a memoir about spinal injury be sad and reductive? But the reality was anything but. I loved the dark humour and found myself laughing out loud while recoiling in horror. Reid is so unflinching and candid and I felt I got to know her. I felt almost bereft when it ended. It had the bonus of being beautifully written by a journalist. I loved it.
Abby S, Reviewer
Melanie Reid a happily married woman a newspaper columnist a mother. Melanie also loved horseback riding a regular day a day off from work a day to ride to jump to enjoy her horse thevpower of riding.On this day this seemingly normal day Melanie fell off her horse she didn’t brace herself correctly and as she hit the ground she felt her body shatter knew she would never ride again from that day on back fractured she entered a new life a life as a paralyzed woman.Alife she would have to come to grips with a life her husband would cry over& her son would be in shock.
Melanie’s determination strength sense of humor will give her the strength to persevere to still be herself to write a column for her paper she titled The Spinal Column to continue have a life a story a woman you will not forget .#netgalley #the world I fell off #HarperCollins 4th estate uk
Greville W, Reviewer
Whenever I am feeling down or sorry for myself I open up Melanie Reid's incredible Spinal Column in The Times.
In 2010 she suffered catastrophic injuries falling off her horse, broke her neck and is now a tetraplegic.
This book is her record of what happened on that terrible day and how she has coped with the vicissitudes if life and just a importantly how life has coped with her.
In places the book is terribly matter of fact when describing terrible things that happened to her and many others with whom she spent time in a Glasgow spinal clinic, at others it is understandably bitter and angry.
It is always humbling and inspirational to read how she has carried on with her family with the loving help and support of her family and how she copes with everyday situations that able bodied people take for granted but which are almost insurmountable for her.
At times I laughed out look particularly when a stranger she and her husband had helped told her that "good things" would happen to her just the week before her accident. At others I cried but at all times I felt humbled and honoured to read her brilliantly honed words.
It was a privilege to read this book which is a must read.
Media/Journalist 174279
Incredible story, skillfully told. I loved the author's no holds barred description of the reality of her accident and appreciated the way she looked at the 'bigger picture' of disability alongside her own experience. I have to admit incredible frustration with what happened to her towards the end of the book - but my own reaction points to her skill in telling the story! A very important book.
Cen R, Reviewer
Here is a memoir of a woman called Melanie who has become paralysed due to a riding accident. Yet her outlook on like is both positive and humorous. I have to say that reading this you cannot help but laugh.
A fun, enjoyable read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Harper Collins for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review
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