Overview

A soulful memoir of desire and a woman’s midlife quest to let go—in jazz and in life. Lisa—a classically trained pianist, wife, and mother—yearns for something she can’t define. After she begins a study of jazz improv with an outspoken, trailblazing musician from the ’70s girl band era, a woman who encourages Lisa to let go musically and emotionally, life takes an unexpected, irrevocable turn. When they become lovers, what began as a desire to learn jazz becomes a lesson in letting go: with music, with an old way of living, and finally with life itself. With rhythmic, imaginative prose, Fly, My Darling explores the resilience of love, the weight of loss, the undeniable pull toward freedom, and the transformation that occurs when a woman finally asks, What do I really want? Based on Richter’s years together with musician and visionary composer Lynda Roth, past and present weave together in this intimate journey of awakened eroticism, exhilarating joy, nearly unbearable grief, and moments of spiritual renewal. And through it all, there is music. Art must always come first, Lisa is reminded. The connection to the beautiful which transcends. It is how we survive. Spare, impressionistic, and deeply personal, Fly, My Darling is a soulful journey of self-discovery and of what awaits when a woman striving to be free, finally is.

Full Product Details

9798896361220

Table of Contents

Reviews

""A love story in poetic glimpses--glimpses that accumulate to become a sweeping narrative, lyrical and impressionistic and irresistibly compelling. It's a smooth, sexy, jazzy delight to read, even when it's heartbreaking, as love stories almost inevitably are. Ultimately, Fly, My Darling offers us a larger vision--of how unexpectedly love comes, and how capacious it can be, and how it transforms and deepens us.""--Cecilia Woloch, author of Sur la Route and Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem ""In prose that is as close to music as it is to poetry, Lisa Richter spins a luminous tale of her search for a true self: a complex dance that has her partnering with grievous loss, sultry desire, all forms of art, and above all love.""--Sands Hall, author of Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology ""Richter's joyous and haunting memoir is a tender portrait of a surprising romance that, at mid-life, transformed the author, creating for readers an 'authentic, moving, beautiful' experience that is likely to transform them as well.""--Lisa Alvarez, author of Some Final Beauty and Other Stories

“A love story in poetic glimpses—glimpses that accumulate to become a sweeping narrative, lyrical and impressionistic and irresistibly compelling. It’s a smooth, sexy, jazzy delight to read, even when it’s heartbreaking, as love stories almost inevitably are. Ultimately, Fly, My Darling offers us a larger vision—of how unexpectedly love comes, and how capacious it can be, and how it transforms and deepens us.”—Cecilia Woloch, author of Sur la Route and Tsigan: The Gypsy Poem “In prose that is as close to music as it is to poetry, Lisa Richter spins a luminous tale of her search for a true self: a complex dance that has her partnering with grievous loss, sultry desire, all forms of art, and above all love.”—Sands Hall, author of Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology “Richter’s joyous and haunting memoir is a tender portrait of a surprising romance that, at mid-life, transformed the author, creating for readers an ‘authentic, moving, beautiful’ experience that is likely to transform them as well.”—Lisa Alvarez, author of Some Final Beauty and Other Stories 

Author Information

Lisa K. Richter is an American writer and poet. She is the author of Fly, My Darling, an intimate and lyrical memoir. She holds an MFA in fiction from Antioch University, earned her BA in mathematics from the University of Virginia, and has studied classical piano. A poetry alumna of the Community of Writers, her work has been featured in journals, anthologies, and literary blogs. She lives in Laguna Beach, California.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available