Replacement Child

by Judy L. Mandel

Overview

"Replacement Child by Judy L. Mandel is a book I recommend to anyone curious about the true story of one family who was caught up in the tragedy of the second plane crash.” —Judy Blume, from In the Unlikely Event

Judy L. Mandel was born into a family crippled by grief. But it would be years before she would discover the shocking circumstances of their loss.

In her award-winning memoir, Replacement Child—now a New York Times bestseller—Mandel tells the true story of a horrifying accident: A plane crashes into a family’s home, leaving one daughter severely burned and another dead. The death of the child leaves a hole in the family that threatens to tear it apart. In an attempt to fill the painful gap, the parents give birth to a “replacement child.”

This powerful tale of love and lies, family and hope, is an intimate account of being brought into the world to provide “a salve for the burns.” As a child, Mandel unwittingly rides the deep and hidden currents of her family’s grief—until her discovery of this family secret, years later, changes her life forever, forcing her to confront the complex layers of her relationships with her father, mother, and sister.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580054775
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,073,998
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Judy L. Mandel began her career as a journalist, branched out to public relations, and settled in corporate marketing, where she worked for more than 20 years as a marketing director for several Fortune 100 companies. Mandel is now a student in the MFA program of Stony Brook Southampton and lives in Connecticut with her husband. Visit her online at JudyMandel.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A very powerful memoir . . . I definitely recommend picking this one up." —Raging Bibliomania

“This touching tale of healing and understanding explores the sometimes unconscious expectations of love.” —Hartford Magazine

"Judy Mandel uses the fire from which she was born to forge a brave quest toward truth and understanding." —Tracy Kauffman-Wood, Women's Memoirs

”Replacement Child is a . . . touching story any parent will relate to . . . a memoir that should not be overlooked by parents." —Midwest Book Review

“Riveting . . . I couldn't put this book down. Mandel's memoir is as riveting and gut wrenching as any piece of thriller fiction I've read." —Wendy Thomas, Bookpleasures

"This is a wonderful read . . . I did not want to put this book down. It really takes you on a journey of one person's struggle to examine who they are and where they come from. I highly recommend this book." —The Social Frog

Editorial Reviews

In this well-researched tribute to her parents, journalist Mandel explores how a freak accident altered the fate of her family in 1952. What began as a normal January school day ended with the crash of American Airlines Flight 6780 into the Mandel family home in Elizabeth, New Jersey, three miles outside Newark airport. In addition to the oldest Mandel daughter, the pilot and all 22 passengers died that day. Following the recent loss of her parents, the author decides to piece together the event that incinerated one sister, left another sister severely burned, and prompted her conception as a "replacement" child. By cleverly shifting between recent years and the day of the crash, Mandel weaves together chapters of real and imagined scenes building to the inevitable. "I read that replacement children often feel they can never live up to the memory of the dead children. I recognize myself in some of the descriptions of those with this affliction." Without seeking to give a greater significance to the issue, the book grapples with the random forces that shape modern life. The parents who survive and overcome the death of a child emerge as true heroes, celebrating family birthdays and, eventually, becoming grandparents. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"The unthinkable happens every day. But it’s not every day that a writer turns it into art."
—The Star-Ledger

"By cleverly shifting between recent years and the day of the crash, Mandel weaves together chapters of real and imagined scenes building to the inevitable. . . the book grapples with the random forces that shape modern life."
—Publishers Weekly

"Intimately told . . . a well-balanced story of loss and hope."
—The Examiner

"A very powerful memoir . . . I definitely recommend picking this one up."
—Raging Bibliomania

“This touching tale of healing and understanding explores the sometimes unconscious expectations of love.”
—Hartford Magazine

"Judy Mandel uses the fire from which she was born to forge a brave quest toward truth and understanding."
—Tracy Kauffman-Wood, Women's Memoirs

”Replacement Child is a . . . touching story any parent will relate to . . . a memoir that should not be overlooked by parents."
—Midwest Book Review

“Riveting . . . I couldn't put this book down. Mandel's memoir is as riveting and gut wrenching as any piece of thriller fiction I've read."
—Wendy Thomas, Bookpleasures

"This is a wonderful read . . . I did not want to put this book down. It really takes you on a journey of
one person's struggle to examine who they are and where they come from. I highly recommend this book."
—The Social Frog

From the Publisher

Mandel's account of being her parents' "replacement child" following the death of an older sister she never knew. On the morning of January 22, 1952, American Airlines flight 6780 crashed into the home in Elizabeth, N.J., where Mandel's parents resided with their two daughters. In addition to killing all 22 passengers and the captain, the accident left the family's youngest child, 2-year-old Linda, terribly burned, while her 7-year-old sister, Donna, perished in the fire. Former corporate marketing director Mandel reflects on her parents' ensuing grief, guilt and their pervasive sense of loss that, years later, prompted them to have another child: the author. She grew up with constant reminders of the devastating crash, not the least of which were her sister's disfiguring injuries that required innumerable reconstructive surgeries. The narrative moves between time periods as Mandel conjures events on the day of the accident and in the years between the crash and her birth, vignettes from Mandel's childhood and her adult life (including three failed marriages), and imagined scenes between her parents. Describing her mother and father's decision to have another baby, she writes, "the prescription, then, for their own survival was a child conceived to heal the family." Mandel details her perception of her parents' motivation and her conflicted feelings, including resentment and gratitude, about the results of their choice. Most chapters are one to four pages, and the constant cutting between years feels choppy and distracting, but Mandel's story is compelling, and the emotional wreckage in her own life is crystal clear. Disjointed but dramatic and resonant.

Kirkus Reviews