Abi Morgan (Tiny Dynamite), an Emmy-winning British writer for film (The Iron Lady) and television (The Hour), knows good copy when she sees it. She also knows better than to reach for clichés. This Is Not a Pity Memoir is a tragedy chronicle whose success lies in the author's resolutely bromide-free treatment of the harrowing circumstances she lived through.
When he was in his mid-40s, actor Jacob Krichefski collapsed at the London home he shared with Morgan and their two teenage children. Jacob had many seizures while at the hospital, which led to a medically induced coma and a diagnosis of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis (later attributed to his multiple sclerosis medication). When he was brought out of the coma six months later, he recognized his kids--but not Morgan. This was for her a heartbreak on top of the heartbreak of Jacob's uncertain prognosis, and it dovetailed with a health crisis of her own.
Jacob may not have known Morgan, but through This Is Not a Pity Memoir, readers will. She writes of her devotion to Jacob but also of her embarrassment ("Trying to bring back a partner who no longer remembers you is a crushingly humiliating business"); weariness ("No one told me how boring loss is"); and rage ("It's really starting to piss me off, the game we play which I call 'Am I Abi today?' The reply is always still 'No' "). Morgan hasn't written a pity memoir; she has written a love story, much of it addressed to Jacob. And it's an extraordinary one. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer