Reviews: All Books

He speaks to a luminous conundrum: how is it that many families “have ended up grateful for experiences they would have done anything to avoid”?

Perhaps the greatest gift of this monumental book, full of facts and full of feelings, is that it constantly makes one think, and think again.

Solomon views the journey of his subject families—from denial to understanding, from confusion to acceptance—as one that every single parent takes, whatever the health or abilities of their children.

I have seldom read a book that made me feel moral quandaries as intensely as this one…I seldom cry at books, but I was moved to tears by Far From the Tree more times than I can count. What undid me, again and again, was the radical humanity of these parents, and their gratitude to and for children they never would have chosen.

Their stories are entirely unpredictable and offer us the full range of human experience—not only the horror but also the astonishing beauty—and in the end a Shakespearean sense that we are such stuff as dreams are made of.

A profoundly moving new work of research and narrative explores the ways that parents of marginalized children have been transformed and largely enriched by caring for their high-needs children.

An informative and moving book that raises profound issues regarding the nature of love, the value of human life and the future of humanity.

Solomon journeys across national, ethnic, and religious lines to speak to parents about their children -- and along the way he learns about what makes us human.

Writing this book was a courageous act, worthy of respect and admiration.

The novel's tone is intimate and deeply moving, with so many well-crafted turns of phrase that I found it, in my delight, almost impossible to put down.