The Bright Hour

A Memoir of Living and Dying

By: Nina Riggs

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne

An exquisite memoir about how to live—and love—every day with “death in the room,” from poet Nina Riggs, mother of two young sons and the direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in the tradition of When Breath Becomes Air.

“We are breathless, but we love the days. They are promises. They are the only way to walk from one night to the other.”

Nina Riggs was just thirty-seven years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancer—one small spot. Within a year, the mother of two sons, ages seven and nine, and married sixteen years to her best friend, received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal.

How does one live each day, “unattached to outcome”? How does one approach the moments, big and small, with both love and honesty?

Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, even as she wrestles with the legacy of her great-great-great grandfather, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nina Riggs’s breathtaking memoir continues the urgent conversation that Paul Kalanithi began in his gorgeous When Breath Becomes Air. She asks, what makes a meaningful life when one has limited time?

Brilliantly written, disarmingly funny, and deeply moving, The Bright Hour is about how to love all the days, even the bad ones, and it’s about the way literature, especially Emerson, and Nina’s other muse, Montaigne, can be a bomb and a form of prayer. It’s a book about looking death squarely in the face and saying “this is what will be.”

Especially poignant in these uncertain times, The Bright Hour urges us to live well and not lose sight of what makes us human: love, art, music, words. “Stunning…heartrending…this year’s When Breath Becomes Air.” —Nora Krug, The Washington Post

Most Anticipated Summer Reading Selection by * The Washington Post * Glamour * The Seattle Times * InStyle * Bookpage * Bookriot * Real Simple * The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

©2017 Nina Riggs (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

“Beautiful and haunting.” —Matt McCarthy, MD, ( USA TODAY)

“Deeply affecting…simultaneously heartbreaking and funny.” —( People, Book of the Week)

“Vivid, immediate.” —Laura Collins-Hughes, ( The Boston Globe)

Hard copy please

The amateur narration really took the life out of the potent writing so evident when I read Nina Rigg’s blog. Still the collection of essays which Rigg’s infused with poetry deserve to reach the widest audience, so listen if you must, read if you can.

Caring

The first thing I need to say is this is not always an easy "read". There were breaks for tissues on my part, and one or two days when I couldn't turn it on. That being said it was interlaced with the humor and caring of day-by-day living. A family with small children, grandparents, friends, trying to live honestly and with hope. And, it is important to mention, this book is superbly written. My heart goes to all of them. They will enable each other to survive.

excellent

Sad, but incredibly well written and honest. a very worth while read. highly recommend it.

Beautiful book

A beautiful book read by such a soothing narrator. I couldn’t help but feel calm while I listened to Nina’s story.

Never wanted it to end

Have never written a review despite listening to many excellent books but Nina Riggs memoir is among the very best. The reader swept me away allowing me to imagine fully the magnitude of who Nina was and how sorely missed she will be. A life well lived despite it’s brevity

Beautifully sad.

I wished it would never end. Poignant and relatable in a way that makes you feel the push and pull of Nina's impossible goodbye.

Powerful emotional writing

The imagery she evoked through her writing was so beautiful. Not sure how someone so sick could write a book like this. We have all lost a brilliant writer and caring person.

entertaining earthy mind-blowing and heartfelt

what a talented woman and blessed family those kids had a wonderful intelligent imaginative and selfless mother she defines what it is to love and her partnership with the husband is inspiring and reassuring my love and thoughts and prayers go out to the family as they grieve and continue on with their lives and figure out what is next thank you for sharing this book thank you for being bold and beautiful

Not a book I'll soon forget

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Would definitely recommend this book to a friend as it reminds us of how precious our time on earth is.

What other book might you compare The Bright Hour to and why?

Can't think of any comparisons.

Which character – as performed by Cassandra Campbell and Kirby Heyborne – was your favorite?

The narrator, Cassandra Campbell paid a great tribute to Nina Riggs by breathing life, love and wisdom into her words.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Nina not only shared her deepest hopes and fears after her cancer diagnoses, but she also shared her family and friends with us in the most heartfelt and poetic language I've read in a long time.

So real...

The thoughts she verbalized in her book truly give you insight into what a young mother, daughter, wife, and friend is thinking when she is given a diagnosis such as hers. I am at peace with this story and am so grateful I listened to it.