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Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
In Lights in Cold Rooms, Joan Cusack Handler chronicles her life through meticulous accounts of her physical, emotional, and familial experiences. She recounts growing up in the Bronx as an unusually tall girl, enduring teasing, styes, and boils, while her mother encouraged pride in her height. Handler traces her medical history, including scoliosis diagnoses and multiple spinal and ankle surgeries, detailing their long-term impacts. She describes her pursuit of education, careers, and poetry, alongside the demands of motherhood and grandparenting. Handler speaks on complicated relationships with her siblings, parents, and son, focusing on caregiving, conflict, and reconciliation, particularly surrounding her sister Catherine’s decline and death. Interwoven are discussions on aging, depression management, therapy, and family responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, capturing the tangible contours of her life experience.
Lights in Cold Rooms by Joan Cusack Handler is a striking memoir that captures the author’s intelligence, humor, and determination. Handler conveys the ways her writing, daily routines, and thoughtful attention to her household supported her during periods of grief, depression, and illness. Her descriptions of managing her home with her husband, observing the rhythm of daily life during the pandemic, and maintaining personal practices show a remarkable focus and vitality. She wonderfully displays her capacity to remain curious and active, balancing difficult experiences with appreciation for small moments of comfort and accomplishment. Handler’s prose is engaging, precise, and often witty, offering readers insight into how a life of dedication to learning, observation, and personal responsibility can provide stability and satisfaction. This memoir is an inspiring celebration of endurance, presence, and the quiet rewards of a thoughtful life.
