The End of Miracles: A Novel

by Monica Starkman

Overview

International Book Awards 2016 finalist for literary fiction
The End of Miracles is a twisting, haunting story about the drastic consequences of a frustrated obsession.
A woman with a complex past wants nothing more than to become a mother, but struggles with infertility and miscarriage. She is temporarily comforted by a wish-fulfilling false pregnancy, but when reality inevitably dashes that fantasy, she falls into a depression so deep she must be hospitalized. The sometimes-turbulent environment of the psychiatry unit rattles her and makes her fear for her sanity, and she flees. Outside, she impulsively commits a startling act with harrowing consequences for herself and others.
This emotionally gripping novel is a suspenseful journey across the blurred boundaries between sanity and madness, depression and healing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631520549
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dr. Monica Starkman is a psychiatrist who is a faculty member of the University of Michigan Medical School Department of Psychiatry in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is a clinician and a scientific researcher. Many of her publications in the scientific literature highlight concerns and conditions of women, such as the first study of women’s reactions to the use of fetal monitoring during labor. She has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a recognized expert on the effects of stress hormones on mood and on brain structure. Dr. Starkman has also published in The New Republic and Vogue magazine. Dr. Starkman writes regularly for Psychology Today as one of their Experts.

Editorial Reviews

Monica Starkman offers a penetrating look at the drastic capabilities of the obsessed mind. Written beautifully and carefully, at just the right pace, The End of Miracles is a thoroughly compelling piece of work.”
—Roger Rosenblatt, New York Times bestselling author, literary editor of The New Republic, essayist for Washington Post and Time magazine

“The End of Miracles is a compelling, empathic novel about a woman whose desperate wish for a child vividly evokes the pain and longing associated with infertility and builds to a climax worthy of a thriller.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Author of Single Jewish Male Seeking Soul Mate and founding editor of Ms Magazine

“Starkman, a prominent psychiatrist, beautifully captures one woman’s journey through depression in this superbly well-written and gripping first novel, which powerfully reveals the complexity and strength of the human mind.”
—Booklist

“For Margo Kerber, the novel’s stoic and sensitive protagonist, the path to motherhood has been troubled from the start. An unexpectedly joyful pregnancy (is) followed by a miscarriage. Afterward, when Margo’s body produces false pregnancy symptoms and cruelly tricks her again, it is clear that she’s been driven to a breaking point. Margo’s collapse, unraveling, and gradual recovery bring a conclusion of forgiveness and hope. Best of all is Starkman’s portrait of Margo—a flawed yet admirably strong victim of circumstance and biology who refuses to be a victim anymore.”
—Foreword Reviews

“Interesting, realistic, exciting, moving. I strongly recommend it.”
—Harriette Simpson Arnow, author of The Dollmaker, and finalist for Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

“A powerful and emotionally gripping novel by one of the great psychosomatic medicine psychiatrists of our time. Highly recommended for all those fascinated by psychiatric illness, treatment, and the impact relationships can have on healing.”
—Michelle Riba, M.D., M.S., Past President of American Psychiatric Association

“Monica Starkman’s The End of Miracles is as cinematic as it is suspenseful.”
—Rochel Urist, award-winning playwright

From the Publisher