In 2002, Ann Hood 's five-year-old daughter Grace died suddenly from a virulent form of strep throat. Stunned and devastated, the family searched for comfort in a time when none seemed possible. Hood an accomplished novelist was unable to read or write. She could only reflect on her lost daughter the way she looked splashing in the bathtub ... the way we sang Eight Days a Week. One day, a friend suggested she learn to knit. Knitting soothed her and gave her something to do. Eventually, she began to read and write again. A semblance of normalcy returned, but grief, in ever new and different forms, still held the family. What they could not know was that comfort would come, and in surprising ways. Hood traces her descent into grief and reveals how she found comfort and hope again a journey to recovery that culminates with a newly adopted daughter.

Ann Hood (born 1956) is an American novelist and short story writer; she has also written nonfiction. The author of thirteen books, her essays and short stories have appeared in many journals and magazines, including The Paris Review, Ploughshares and Tin House.

Her Web site is www.annhood.us.