And Always One More Time: A Memoir

Every year, more than a million women find themselves grappling with the devastating loss of a life partner—a loss that shatters their present and leaves their future in doubt. At 65, Margaret Mandell faces this heart-wrenching reality when she loses her husband of 45 years to a fast-moving disease. The bed is now half-empty, her body betrays her, and laughter seems elusive.

In the depths of longing and haunted by memories, Mandell embarks on a journey of healing through the written word. She begins to write letters to the man she loved in a poignant process of retracing their shared history. But when a tender-hearted college professor steps quietly into her life and listens attentively as Mandell reads her accumulating stack of letters out loud, her world is transformed in profound and unexpected ways.

And Always One More Time is a story that delves deep into the human experience, reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's A Grief Observed in its wisdom and Joyce Carol Oates's A Widow's Story in its suspense. It offers universal truths about love, loss, and resilience, much like Steve Leder's The Beauty of What Remains. With potent and swift-moving words, this book can be devoured in a single sitting. It is a beacon of hope for those navigating the aftermath of the greatest loss.

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"A moving, insightful, and beautifully crafted story of losing one great love and finding another."

-- Kirkus Reviews

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"Margaret Mandell’s AND ALWAYS ONE MORE TIME is a warm, personable memoir of love, loss, and hope. With both its heartfelt epistolary style and friendly, clear reading reflecting the precise, embodied attention of the author’s lifelong yoga practice, Mandell’s text is a reminder that not only frailty and mortality, but also love, lust, and joy, are ever-present, natural components of the human condition."

--IndieReader (AudioBook)

© 2024 Atmosphere Press (Audiobook): 9798882381041

Release date

Audiobook: April 5, 2024