Without a Map: A Memoir

Meredith Hall

Apr 2007 · Sold by Beacon Press

About this ebook

“A brave writer of tumultuous beauty.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Beautifully rendered.” —Elle
"A poignant, unflinchingly assured memoir.” —The Boston Globe
 
This “sobering portrayal” of a pregnant teen exiled from her New Hampshire community is “a testament to the importance of understanding and even forgiving the people who . . . have made us who we are” (O, The Oprah Magazine).
 
Meredith Hall’s moving but unsentimental memoir begins in 1965, when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is then kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East, where she survives by selling her possessions and finally her blood.
 
She returns to New England and stitches together a life that encircles her silenced and invisible grief. Her lost son finds her when he is twenty-one. Hall learns that he grew up in gritty poverty with an abusive father—in her own father’s hometown. Their reunion is tender, turbulent, and ultimately redemptive. Hall’s parents never ask for her forgiveness, yet as they age, she offers them her love.
 
What sets Without a Map apart is the way in which loss and betrayal evolve into compassion, and compassion into wisdom.

Ratings and reviews

Excellent read and highly recommended! I haven't read a good book like this in a long, long time that I couldn't put it down! Ms. Hall is a fantastic and very talented writer. Her words bring you into the story like you're there with her throughout her entire journey. The feelings and the way she uses imagery are both beautiful and intelligent. She never once has the reader feel unappreicated. Her memoir is raw with honesty and emotion and real with imagery and perception. If you are looking for a really good book, this one is for you. You won't be disappointed. I highly recommend this book! 5 stars!

About the author

At the age of forty-four, Meredith Hall graduated from Bowdoin College. She wrote her first essay, “Killing Chickens,” in 2002. Two years later, she won the $50,000 Gift of Freedom Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation, which gave her the financial freedom to devote time to Without a Map, her first book. Her other honors include a Pushcart Prize and notable essay recognition in Best American Essays; she was also a finalist for the Rona Jaffe Award. Hall’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Creative Nonfiction, The Southern Review, Five Points, Prairie Schooner, and several anthologies. She teaches writing at the University of New Hampshire and lives in Maine. Visit Meredith Hall's website at www.meredithhall.org.