Description

A candid memoir of love, art, and grief from a celebrated man of letters, United States poet laureate Donald Hall

In an intimate record of his twenty-three-year marriage to poet Jane Kenyon, Donald Hall recounts the rich pleasures and the unforeseen trials of their shared life. The couple made a home at their New England farmhouse, where they rejoiced in rituals of writing, gardening, caring for pets, and connecting with their rural community through friends and church. The Best Day the Worst Day presents a portrait of the inner moods of "the best marriage I know about," as Hall has written, against the stark medical emergency of Jane's leukemia, which ended her life in fifteen months. Between recollections of better times, Hall shares with readers the daily ordeal of Jane's dying through heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring storytelling.

More than a memoir, it is a testament to the two lives--and the one life they built together.

A Literary Marriage: An intimate look at the daily life of two celebrated poets, Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon, at their beloved New England farmhouse, Eagle Pond.
A Story of Love and Loss: Hall chronicles their twenty-three-year marriage--what he called "the best marriage I know about"--and the fifteen months that changed everything.
Grief and Bereavement: A raw, honest, and ultimately inspiring account of navigating a loved one's illness and finding the strength to go on.
A Poet's Eloquence: Written with the unflinching candor and lyrical precision that made Donald Hall a United States poet laureate, this memoir is a timeless monument to a great love.