Three Roads Back

An elegant and useful rumination on resilience as a practice, achievable through study, creation, companionship, and deep reflection. * New Yorker * A concise exploration of how three major 19th-century thinkers overcame the experience of personal tragedy. . . . Three Roads Back is Richardson's legacy condensed, his grace note to posterity, the massive effort behind his three great books . . . refracted in the shimmering prism of a hundred pages of perfectly polished prose. . . . [A] lovely, uplifting book. ---Christoph Irmscher, Wall Street Journal [An] extraordinarily cogent and exquisitely concise exploration of the life-affecting course of early grief. ---Diane Cole, Washington Post [A] slim but profoundly affecting volume. * Christian Science Monitor * A book worth savoring, especially if you're grappling with grief and loss. . . . [a] beautifully authentic book. . . . Richardson is an excellent guide. ---Emily Blackshear, Brooklyn Rail Stimulating. . . . [Three Roads Back is] a moving, candid group portrait. Fans and students of American literature will find this worth picking up. * Publishers Weekly * [A] remarkably rich study. . . . [Richardson] expertly frames the emotional and intellectual lives of these three significant artistic figures and demonstrates the relevance, for anyone, of what they accomplished in their profound negotiations with loss. . . . A stirring and keenly perceptive examination of bereavement and recovery. * Kirkus Reviews starred review *