05/10/2010 7:00 pm
Location:
- Street:
- Village Books
- Additional:
- 1200 Eleventh Street
- City:
- Bellingham ,
- Province:
- Washington
- Postal Code:
- 98225
- Country:
- United States
When Bonnie Rough received the test results that confirmed she was a carrier of the genetic condition hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (H.E.D.), it propelled her on a journey deep into the American West and her family’s past. At first glance, H.E.D. seemed only to be a superficial condition: a peculiar facial bone structure, sparse hair, few teeth, and an inability to sweat. But a closer look revealed the source of a lifetime of infections, breathing problems, and drug dependency for Bonnie’s grandfather Earl, who suffered from the disorder. From his boyhood as a small-town oddity to an adulthood fraught with disaster, Earl eventually died penniless and alone at the age of forty-nine. Not only did Bonnie’s mother inherit the marker for H.E.D., but also the complicated love that came from bearing witness to her father’s misery.As Bonnie and her husband considered becoming parents, this legacy began to haunt them in their decisions. Because now, with the availability of genetic testing, Bonnie carried the code that gave them choices. The answers would not be easy for them to reach, and would take them through an excruciating moral dilemma no previous generation could ever have imagined.
Bonnie J Rough holds an MFA from the University of Iowa. Currently a Bush Artist Fellow, she has taught at The Loft Literary Center and is also a trained birth doula. Her writing has appeared in The Sun, the Modern Love column of The New York Times, and elsewhere. She has traveled extensively and currently divides her time between Amsterdam and Washington State. This is her first book.
2012 Chuckanut Writers Conference
