Beauty in the Broken Places by Allison Pataki

BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN PLACES by Allison Pataki is my favorite book of the year so far. And when you realize that it is the story of Pataki’s youthful, athletic husband having a major debilitating stroke at age 30, you may wonder why. Pataki has written a moving, inspirational book, as she says, “a Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience.” Expecting a baby in Fall 2015, the couple left O’Hare on June 9th for a “babymoon” in Hawaii.  Instead, Dave Levy’s in-flight stroke precipitated an emergency landing and trip to a hospital in Fargo, North Dakota.  There, Levy (then a third-year resident in orthopedic surgery at Rush) regained consciousness, but a totally new journey had begun for them.

Pataki continues the story over the next year, discussing a range of emotions – fear, frustration and joy – as Dave begins the recovery process and daughter Lilly is born. Pataki shares “Dear Dave” letters which she began to record daily events and progress, alternating those sections with chapters about their life together in college, their wedding and early career years. The couple have a strong, caring relationship and supportive network of friends and family, providing a solid past from which to fight for their future together, but it was still an extremely difficult process as Pataki points out.

I found the faith and frankness that Pataki expressed to be very moving. In addition, I liked the local connections to Rush and RIC (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, now called Shirley Ryan AbilityLab). There are numerous reviews online (like these from NPR and The Today Show), plus you can greet Allison Pataki in person since she is coming to The Bookstall on May 15 at 6:30pm.  I am really looking forward to meeting her – in part to talk about this book and in part to learn what exciting new projects she plans to pursue.