The Geography of Love

by Glenda Burgess

Book Overview

This is a moving exploration of love tested by unthinkable circumstances. It is also a poignant love letter to a woman's great love, a man who had lost so much yet taught her to see every twist and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767928598
• ISBN13: 9780767928595
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Very good memoir!!

This book was excellent! It was very hard for me to put it down, I just kept wanting to read it more and more. I got very wrapped up in it. The author has written other books, they are fiction, I will give them a try. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Devastating book.... but so worth it

Let me state upfront that I picked this book up in kind of a hurry, not knowing much about it, other than "early-30s woman finally finds true love with older guy (mid-40s)". So imagine my surprise when I started reading this book. In the first third of "The Geography of Love" (310 pages), author Glenda Burgess retells how she unexpectedly found true love with Ken, a man 14 years her senior, someone who had lost two previous wives (one to a car accident, another to a (potentially suspicious) murder, of all things. It made me turn the pages, and when at one point Ken says out of the blue "I can't do this anymore", when the couple had 2 small children, I feared the worst (as in: he wants to leave the marriage). But Ken was referring to a corporate job he didn't want to do any longer. After that, the book takes a completely unexpected turn, and where the book really takes off. Ken is discovered to have a cancer of some sort, and the second half of the book deals with how Glenda and Ken are dealing with this. This is when the book becomes a devastating read. I found myself choking back a number of times, particularly in the last 50 pages or so. Separate but simultaneously with all this, the author brings a great portrait of other family members, including in particular her challenging relationship with her mother. In all, I was very taken by this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Visceral, Moving, Cleansing Story

In my view, one cannot read too many love stories. I struck out for forty years, suffering a devastating early divorce after nine awful years. Then one day my wonderful Ginger came into my life. That was a quarter century ago. I have always credited my ability to be ready for my wife's sweet love because I took the time to read great stories about relationships. That's why I have called A Thousand Summers, by Garson Kanin, my favorite book along those lines--until I read Glenda Burgess' memoir, The Geography of Love. Glenda's book will be a part of me, and a part of my relationship tools for the next twenty-five years. Maybe beyond! Perhaps once every couple of generations we find a book that gets up close and personal with the human condition. We had it with A Man Called Peter, by Catherine Marshall. Glenda Burgess, as fine a writer as America has produced in the last two decades, follows in the great tradition of the life well examined by absolutely nailing Georgraphy of Love. Heart-wrenching, yet astounding in its ability to uplift, The Geography of Love chronicles the wonderful marriage of Glenda and Kenneth Grunzweig during their fifteen year union. We follow the perplexing cough that Ken developed after a photography expedition to the great Southwest, all the way through Ken's valiant struggle to stay alive for his family. We learn of Ken's tragic past--the death of two wives... The first in a tragic auto accident when he held his dying wife in his arms. Then his second wife was murdered by a serial killer. Kenneth Grunzweig had to carry the burden of being the main suspect for twenty-two long years, only being vindicated weeks before the start of his heroic battle against lung cancer. Along the way, Ken deals as gracefully as possible with floundering family members, Glenda always at his side. As the reader folds The Geography of Love closed for the final time, having absorbed all 306 pages, one cannot help but realize this is one book that will stay with them forever. Worthy of periodic rereads. When you need to--absolutely have to--ponder the meaning of love, loss, relationship and romance, you will know it is time to read again Glenda Burgess' magnificent The Geography of Love.

a great read

This is a wonderful, readable story that will stay with you long after it's finished. It is relevant for anyone who has ever dealt with loving, living, or living with illness. A real work of hope in a very tough situation and, for all that, it never felt like a burden to read it. Geography of Love is a hymn to our generation, relevant to others, but perfect for us.

A beautiful and moving memoir

The Geography of Love is a beautiful, moving, uplifting, and heartbreaking memoir. Glenda Burgess has given us a remembrance of her marriage, and her husband that carries such a core of truth that it is difficult to put it down. After a successful career with the State Department, Glenda has decided to return to the United States and start fresh. She meets a man, Ken, 13 years her senior who has already been widowed twice, his first wife died in a car accident, and his second wife was murdered in her bedroom while their toddler slept in the next room. His daughter has grown up emotionally scarred and her relationship with Ken is shaky and turbulent. With Ken's past and problems, most women would head for the hills, but Glenda had a sure belief that this could be good. Even though Ken had given up on the very idea of love, he too, managed one more leap of faith and together they built a life, a love and a wonderful family. Their faith and love would be tested in sad and painful ways, and yet, the love and devotion always manages to shine through. This is a very sad book in many ways; it can bring you to tears at the most unexpected places. And yet it also can give you a deep sense of peace, a profound desire to have this kind of marriage, and a deep sense of gratitude if you already do. This was an ordinary happy family, and it's easy to see yourselves in the pages. Seeing how a couple can gain such strength from their relationship shows us that, perhaps we can all respond to the worst adversity possible with grace and dignity. Ken's compassion, consideration and kindness throughout the darkest of his days stand as an example to us all. The author's courage in reliving these times shows us yet another place to explore in the geography of our own lives.