The extraordinary story of one woman’s 10-year medical and metaphysical odyssey that brought her physical, creative, emotional and spiritual healing, by a MacArthur genius and two-time Pulitzer finalist.
With a play opening on Broadway, and every reason to smile, Sarah Ruhl has just survived a high-risk pregnancy when she discovers the left side of her face is completely paralyzed. She is assured that 90 percent of Bell’s palsy patients see spontaneous improvement and experience a full recovery. Like Ruhl’s own mother. But Sarah is in the unlucky 10 percent. And for a woman, wife, mother and artist working in theater, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior bring significant and specific challenges. So Ruhl begins an intense decade-long search for a cure while simultaneously grappling with the reality of her new face --- one that, while recognizably her own, is incapable of accurately communicating feelings or intentions.
In a series of piercing, witty and lucid meditations, Ruhl chronicles her journey as a patient, wife, mother and artist. She explores the struggle of a body yearning to match its inner landscape, the pain of postpartum depression, the story of a marriage, being a playwright and working mom to three small children, and the desire for a resilient spiritual life in the face of illness.
Brimming with insight, humility and levity, SMILE is a triumph by one of America’s leading playwrights. It is an intimate examination of loss and reconciliation, and, above all else, the importance of perseverance and hope in the face of adversity.
» Don't miss our "Bookreporter Talks To" interview with Sarah Ruhl in the October 22nd Bookreporter Weekly Update newsletter.
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