Another fabulous book

This is a review of the book Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams that I finished last night. I had a difficult time getting started into this one but I pushed through for several reasons. It was recommended to me by my grad school professor. So, of course, I wanted to read to understand more closely the mind of this mentor and I like the idea of the subtitle "An Unnatural history of Family and Place." I had not heard of Williams previously. Initially it had too much naturalist talk for me and then its other subject matter is the author's mother's struggle with cancer. So sad. I put it down at one point because it made losing my own brother to cancer so fresh. And my own fear of getting cancer emphasized. But this is a bittersweet and sacred story of one family's journey through losing those they(a mother, two grandmothers, and aunts to cancer) love. Williams speaks for herself, her deep personal intimate feelings (which were some of the most moving parts of the book) and speaks for the others remaining. She is known for the essay at the end of the book that serves as the epilogue. It is entitled "The Clan of One Breasted Women." The irony of this book is that these people all live in the western part of the country - Utah - where there was much nuclear testing during the 1950s and beyond. Williams, a Mormon with clear lineage to the beginnings of the movement, presents the evidence that these research projects are the cause of the cancers in her family. She also chronicles her concerns over the lack of environmental respect that is given to the Great Salt Lake and the surrounding region. Part of her refuge is spending time in the bird refuge that edges part of the Great Salt lake.
While at first, I wasn't sure I would like this, I gave it a chance. And I'm so thrilled with the outcome. How can one be thrilled with such a bittersweet book with death as an outcome? Williams says that "Grief dares us to love once more." That parallels a recent song I've heard by artist Amy Grant - "Love has made me unafraid." It's no mistake that two different people in the midst of the human experience have discovered this deep truth for themselves in entirely separate ways. I'm glad they brought to my attention something I knew but had not yet articulated.