Girl in Glass: Dispatches from the Edge of Life - Tapa blanda

The author has spun a profound work of philosophy and sewn it into the shell of an exquisite memoir. . . A dramatic, step-by-step examination of what it means to sustain a life. (Jennifer Senior The New York Times)

In this courageous and passionate book, Deanna Fei tells the story of delivering a medically fragile child at 25 weeks. Even those who know the outcome will be gripped by the novelistic depiction of oscillating hope and despair. But the real accomplishment of this book is that it takes memoir as a jumping-off point for pondering the obligations attached to scientific progress and collective wealth. In addressing the issue of how much a human life is ultimately worth, it becomes a deeply moving work of moral philosophy. (Andrew Solomon, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of FAR FROM THE TREE)

Deanna Fei has written three gripping tales in one--her transcendent journey as the mother of a child born way too soon; her plunge into the harsh realities of corporate greed and bumbling when a certain CEO publicly labeled her daughter a 'distressed baby'; and her hard-won understanding of what society owes its most fragile beings. Readers will fall in love with Fei's daughter, and come to see that she is all of our children. (Lisa Belkin, author of LIFE'S WORK and former columnist for the NEW YORK TIMES's Motherlode blog)

Luminous . . . An unflinching testament to the improbable miraculousness of life. This is an astonishing book, full of dark beauty and grace and a hard-earned integrity, one that will haunt me for a long time. (Thrity Umrigar, bestselling author of THE SPACE BETWEEN US and THE STORY HOUR)

Fei grippingly details her dread, anxiety, and wonder with her second-trimester delivery . . . An urgent call for corporate compassion by a woman with a baby in peril. (Kirkus Reviews)

Extraordinarily beautiful. (NPR, All Things Considered)

Impassioned, important . . . [Fei] critiques . . . the entire American health-care system. Yet this is not a fire-breathing polemic or a policy tract. It's most effective, and affecting, as a mother's memoir of how her life changed the day her daughter came into the world far too soon . . . [Fei] is an eloquent stylist who writes with immediacy and honesty . . . moving and persuasive. (The Washington Post)

Raw, unflinching, and beautifully written. (Good Housekeeping)

A heartbreaking yet beautiful story of motherhood and love . . . Fei is a gifted writer with a courageous tale to share. This memorable book belongs on the shelf of every library. ((starred review) Library Journal)

[Fei] writes with precision, grace, and a devastating honesty. (The Boston Globe)