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“Unstitched is riveting, compassionate, topical, and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Stanciu, in beautiful prose, takes on the impact of the opioid epidemic on a small Vermont town with the gusto and suspense of a fine mystery novel, and the empathy that only a truly fine observer of the human condition could muster. Highly recommended.”
— Thomas Christopher Greene, author of The Headmaster’s Wife and The Perfect Liar, Founding President of Vermont College of Fine Arts -
“Unstitched should be mandatory reading. It is a heartbreaking, raw, tender and revelatory look at addiction and its pervasive grip on ourselves, our families, our communities, and our rural towns. It is also a sublimely written narrative of transformation, vulnerability, discovery and love. This book undid me as I read—taking me into the heart of suffering, revealing my own habits, biases and fears—and then it gathered those pieces together and braided them into something new: a vision of hope, connection, possibility and healing for us all. Stanciu’s courage, generosity, curiosity and gorgeous words are the very best of guides.”
— Robin MacArthur, author of Heart Spring Mountain and Half Wild 
Tag Archives: homeschooling mama
Political Art? Or Just A Lot of Stuff Kicking Around?
A tower of filing cabinets? My 13-year-old is simultaneously entranced and dumbfounded. I don’t get it. Maybe, I suggest, we shouldn’t think about getting it but just take it in. She gives me that look perhaps unique to only young … Continue reading
Wild and Tame Creatures
On his favorite perch on the dining room windowsill, my daughter’s cat suddenly stiffens his back and presses his nose near the November-cool glass. Beside him, I’m typing, and I rub his back. He mews an inquiry, looking at me. … Continue reading
What Remains
In a 21st-century version of a paper airplane, my 19-year-old texts me at work that her younger sister’s favorite chicken was devoured in the night hours. I step out in the stairway and call home. Yes, I’ll bury the remains. … Continue reading
Summer, Again
On this first day of summer, mock orange blooms beneath our bedroom windows — an enormous bush that nearly reaches to the second floor — its scent so sweet it’s nearly liquid. Yesterday, a day that perhaps reflects our summer … Continue reading
Radiance
My 12-year-old went wild with the row of tiny icicles along our roof. They’re back! It takes me a moment to figure out what she’s saying. When I do, I jam on my boots, step out, and reach up for two … Continue reading
One Word
Texting is like tossing paper airplanes to someone, back and forth, with tiny notes. My daughter texts me about the usual humdrum of who’s picking up her sister or grocery lists, sometimes bigger issues like financial aid deadlines, but also … Continue reading
Emerald Blossom
A little girl, about the height of my hip, leans against me in the library, seeking gum. My stash melted in the freak heat wave. She looks at me, forlorn. The adult I’m speaking with suggests they walk outside and … Continue reading
Myriad Memories – and Now
Hiking down the Zealand trail with my brother in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, he suggests taking a spur to “somewhere with a really good view.” My 12-year-old is more game than I expect, and we hike along an easy wooded … Continue reading
Rain This Way
Cricket songs and screeching starlings. In little flashes, the world around us brightens in bits of red, preparing for autumn. My daughter, busy with middle school and soccer all day, leaves her hula hoop as a calling card for any … Continue reading
Depths of Domesticity
In a cold rain, my teenager heads out to the barn in search of a saw and a just-right piece of wood, then disappears upstairs with her wood-burning tool. The younger girl spreads between the kitchen table and oven, baking … Continue reading
