Ten Days

Janet Gilsdorf

10/2011 · Kensington Publishing Corp.

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In a riveting debut novel infused with uncommon insight, Janet Gilsdorf draws readers into an unforgettable story of love, heartache, family, and renewal.

After six years of marriage, Anna and Jake Campbell have settled into a routine of daily responsibility and familiar comforts. The demands of raising two small children—three-year-old Chris and baby Eddie—take a toll, especially combined with Jake’s schedule as an orthopedic surgeon. But together, cautious Anna and calm, optimistic Jake negotiate, sometimes gracefully, sometimes not so much, every obstacle that comes their way. Until the night Eddie gets sick.

When Anna phones Jake at work to seek advice, he reassures her that Eddie has just caught her cold. But with the morning light comes the terrible realization that her baby is seriously ill. Guilt-ridden, deeply angry, and shell-shocked, Anna spends bottomless hours alone in the ICU where Eddie teeters on between life and death. In the days that follow Eddie’s diagnosis, grief gives way to recrimination and accusations. Anna, focused only on her younger son, ignores Chris’s need for attention, while Jake is drawn to an old temptation. And the six steady years Anna and Jake have spent together—years of give and take, hope and hardship, inside jokes and shared memories—seem suddenly fragile and fleeting.

Ten Days is a beautifully written and compelling story of the simple, momentary choices that come to shape our lives, of love tested to the limit, and of the myriad small triumphs that can become our greatest joys.

Praise for Janet Gilsdorf and TEN DAYS

"A heart-twisting spiral through one family's nightmare and their journey home. Authentic and insightful, Ten Days is a mesmerizing gem that reminds you to laugh, to weep, and to relish all that binds us together in love."

—Carol Cassella, national bestselling author of Oxygen and Healer

"One doesn't have to be a parent to be deeply affected by the story of the Campbells. From the opening scene tension rides high and there were moments when my hand trembled turning the page. Janet Gilsdorf writes with a surety that allows her to bring this difficult, dramatic tale to its life-affirming conclusion and leave the reader wanting more."

—Holly Chamberlin, author of Last Summer

"An absorbing can't-put-down novel. A page-turner to the end, Ten Days is a must read. . .a book that you will long remember."—Roberta Gately, author of Lipstick in Afghanistan

"I was riveted by this family's journey to the edge and back. There is just enough medical detail to make the events crisp and authentic. Anyone who has ever cared for a child will feel for Anna and Jake as they fight to save their baby. This is a novel you won't want to miss."

—Rosalind Noonan, author of The Daughter She Used to Be

Acerca do autor

Janet Gilsdorf is the author of many personal essays and the memoir Inside/Outside: A Physician’s Journey with Breast Cancer. She is Professor of Pediatrics/Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan and lives with her husband in Ann Arbor.