title: Beautiful Affliction: A Memoir
author:  Lene Fogelberg 
description: Fogelberg, a poet, structures her saga well, writing in alternating chapters about growing up with her 'monster,' and arriving in the United States, where her condition is diagnosed and she has corrective open-heart surgery. Beautiful Affliction is an unusual, riveting medical drama crafted with deep emotion and exquisite detail.<br /><br />BookPage<br /><br /><br />In her breathtaking memoir, <em>Beautiful Affliction</em>, Lene Fogelberg elegantly unites the savagery and raw beauty of the natural world with the wisdom and poignant insight of a young wife and mother for whom each moment, whether or not she realizes it, may be her last. Exquisite imagery and poetic prose pulse through this powerful, emotionally gripping story. With Beautiful Affliction, Lene Fogelberg gives us a gorgeously written story to savor and share, while adding her shimmering, deeply intelligent voice to the literary pantheon.<br /><br />Terri Giuliano Long, author of <em>USA Today</em> bestseller <em>In Leah's Wake</em><br /><br /><br />Lene Fogelbergs memoir of living with an undiagnosed malfunctioning heart since childhood is a testament to the power of love. She allows us, the lucky reader, access to her innermost fears and guilts, offering up her story with such beautiful prose that one is enticed to linger over each word.<br /><br />Rossandra White, award-winning author of <em>Loveyoubye</em><br /><br /><br />Gripping, powerful, touching, beautiful. A memoir about a woman who fights to remain alive because of her daughters and her husband. A story everyone can relate to and will want to read to the inspiring end.<br /><br />Mette Ivie Harrison, author of Ironmom and <em>New York Times</em> Notable Book, <em>The Bishop's Wife</em><br /><br /><br />Brilliantly paced, weaving glimpses of the author's past into an ever-tightening noose that engulfs Lene and her young family in adulthood, this memoir left me as breathless as if I'd read a thriller about an unstoppable killer circling its victim. <em>Beautiful Affliction</em> grips the reader and wont let go until the very last page.<br /><br />Rita M. Gardner, author of the award-winning memoir <em>The Coconut Latitudes</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Beautiful Affliction</em> is an important and beautiful book about the ways in which our health impacts our lives, and the courage, strength, and healing that can result with persistence. A wonderfully honest and sincere memoir.<br /><br />Laura Pritchett, author of <em>Stars Go Blue</em> and winner of the PEN USA Award<br /><br /><br />Heart-rending and suspense-filled, Fogelbergs <em>Beautiful Affliction</em> is a graceful meditation on love, marriage, motherhood, and the quotidian precious moments that make a life with young children. Fogelbergs miraculous story is a gift to readers, both for its exquisite prose and for its humble reminder: Life is short; love deeply.<br /><br />Laura Nicole Diamond, author of <em>Shelter Us</em><br /><br /><br />Lene Fogelbergs story is breathtaking in all the right waysdelicately and skillfully toldand a powerful reminder that life is fragile and can only be lived one breath at a time.<br /><br />Carol Lynn Pearson, bestselling author, poet, and playwright<br /><br /><br />Lene Fogelberg's memoir will have even the most doubtful believing in miracles. Honest, unapologetic, inspiring, <em>Beautiful Affliction</em> is ultimately a testament to the sustaining power of love.<br /><br />Ashley Warner, author of the award-winning memoir <em>The Year After</em><br /><br /><br /><em>Beautiful Affliction</em> is a deeply moving and important memoir about a young woman fighting for her life against all odds. Its a suspenseful page-turner and also the work of a poet. Fogelberg's physical heart is shutting down, even as her emotional heart is filled to bursting with lovefor her husband and two little girls, for her whole world that may vanish in an instant. Her breathtaking odyssey will remind the reader of the beauty, fragility, and ephemerality of life. I absolutely love this book. It was an inspiration to read, and it will stay with me for a long time.<br /><br />Alice Eve Cohen, award-winning author of <em>The Year My Mother Came Back</em> and <em>What I Thought I Knew</em><br /><br /><br />Lene Fogelberg's inspiring memoir of life with a literal broken heart teaches us to recognize beauty amidst our own pain and suffering. Having also experienced complicated heart issues and a lifetime of surgeries I found myself reliving my own sacred experience.<br /><br />Paul Cardall, #1 Billboard Pianist &amp; Steinway Artist<br /><br /><br />Fogelberg has crafted a literary and beautifully compelling story, which is much more than a medical mystery. It is a heartfelt and touching story about a mother who loves her husband and children and struggles with the thought of leaving them behind. Her efforts to give them a sense of her love and how she wants that love to be remembered is what makes this book a magnificent memoir that I will be thinking about for a long time.<br /><br />Steven L. Peck, author of <em>The Scholar of Moab</em> and <em>A Short Stay in Hell</em><br /><br /><br />Fogelbergs poetic sensibility shines Vivid, heartfelt, and carefully crafted, this memoir will resonate with readers. <em>Beautiful Affliction</em> is more than an illness narrative; its meditations on mortality will appeal to all who love the fragile and impermanent.<br /><br />Lucy Bryan, <em>Rain Taxi Review of Books</em>
zlib_text: **AFFLICTION**
  
  River Savage
  
    
  
  **AFFLICTION**
  
  ©2014
  
   **First eBook edition: November 2014**
  
  Affliction is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations and events
  portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or
  used fictitiously.
  
  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the
  scanning, uploading and sharing of any part of this book without the
  permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s
  intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
  
  Edited by Becky Johnson, [_Hot Tree Editing_](http://www.hottreeedits.com)
  
  Cover design ©: Louisa Maggio at [_LM
  Creations_](http://www.facebook.com/LMbookCreations)
  
  Image: Mofatt Photography
  
  Model: Nick Potato
  
  Formatting by Max Henry at [_Max
  Effect_](http://www.facebook.com/MaxEffectAuthorServices)
  
  Information address:
  [_riversavageauthor@gmail.com_](mailto:riversavageauthor@gmail.com)
  
    
  
   **CONTENTS**
  
   _Prologue_
  
   _Chapter O