An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir Kindle Edition

It seems like most of the 4 star reviews are written by people who have not lost a baby themselves.My experience is not exactly the same as the author's, but so many of the sentiments she expresses convey what I have been feeling since my daughter died, but did not have the talent to put into so many words.I bought this book, first because it is one (of many) that addresses a subject that has been so invasive in my life since last year. I purchased it along with a few others of the same general content. This one stands out by far.The second reason I chose this particular book among the handful is because of the title, which is obviously important or it wouldn't be the title. Not many other reviews have mentioned it. I had been feeling like I was imagining things... like my loss had been imagined, like the pregnancy had been imagined. Not really... I knew they had happened, but there are moments when I felt so out-of-place after our loss that I imagined I was about to wake up at any moment or that perhaps I had wandered mistakenly into a parallel-universe and the real me was still back in the real world, having a real, live baby. The image of Gweneth Paltrow in that movie Sliding Doors kept popping into my mind. At some point, at some singular moment, something happened, and one life kept going as expected while some other, wrong life, my life, ricocheted off in the wrong direction. This concept has had a strong pull on me and I am relieved to see someone write her story of baby loss that includes this perspective. Elizabeth's writing is descriptive in a way that gifts the bereaved reader with the words to say what she otherwise hadn't yet found the words to say. The writing is not exactly linear, which to me makes perfect sense because grief is not linear. There is each stage in it's prescribed order and then there is revisiting of each stage in a different order or in conjunction with another stage and this goes on forever as far as I can tell.Now on my 3rd pregnancy, following the 2nd that resulted in a beautiful but stillborn daughter, I nod my head along with the author as she explains how she could not do anything the same as the last pregnancy and writes about how she felt and acted while bringing a subsequent child into the world following the "calamity" of losing her first son.Outside of the story of pregnancy, loss and having a subsequent child, I found that reading about her life abroad with her husband was really enjoyable. I find pleasure in both Ms. McCracken's lifestyle and writing style. In the end, I don't just feel like I read a book about a woman whose baby died, I feel like I have made a friend. I may not be able to call her up and talk about the distress I'm having here during my third pregnancy, but like so many other "friends" I have made in the characters of my favorite books, I can read this one over and over again (it is a less-than-one-day read) and find comfort in the pages where she recounts the far-too- relatable thoughts and emotions I only wish all my real-life friends and family could understand about delivering a stillborn baby and about bringing a new baby into the world after that. She lost a baby years before me and wanted a book unlike the others already out there. I lost a baby years after she did and wanted a book like the one she wrote. I am so grateful to have found it.

Quite possibly the most intimate experience and the saddest story a mother can share. This is Elizabeth McCracken’s memoir AN EXACT REPLICA OF A FIGMENT OF MY IMAGINATION. In the book, she opens her heart about the road she and her husband are about to embark upon while they are living abroad, outside of Paris. Elizabeth is enjoying the bliss of being newly married and pregnant.In her night month, she finds out that her baby is no longer living. The magnitude of this loss is unfathomable. How can she relive the darkest moments of losing her baby given what she has gone through both physically and emotionally? Through her book, she does, and it is quite a feat. Her baby born but not having had a chance to live. A mother not yet having had a chance to embrace her baby whom she already loves. How is she able to grieve? How can she process what she has been through? How can she move on? There is no plan for her situation. She creates a path. And beautifully, insightfully, remarkably writes about the pain, the frustration, the love, the loss. There is so much sadness. While in the depths of despair, she finds strength. And humor. What an amazing ray of life she shows not only for those who have experienced the loss of a baby, but of the worst kind of grief that anyone who has experienced immense sorrow can relate to. Take a page out of her book.

Although sad, Elizabeth’s story enstills an incredible amount of resilience. My daughter was stillborn at full-term and this book put into words thoughts and feelings that I have never been able to verbalize. I have read and reread this book countless times and I appreciate more every time. I was so blown away by this book that I would love to meet the author and hug her for her bravery to share her story and tell her how much she has helped me in my grief process by sharing her story.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination was an excellent book chronically the loss of Elizabeth's son, Pudding while she was in a different country. It chronicled her grief during this time along with the questions that every mother who has lost a child has in their head. It is the "happiest story with the saddest ending". I highly recommend it to anyone but especially though who have experienced a loss as it is raw, emotional, and I believe helpful in the journey of baby loss.

It's so hard to find the right words to describe this beautifully written poignant book. It sat on my to-read list for about a year and I put off reading it in large part due to the fact that I became pregnant for the first time shortly after adding it to my list. (I didn't want to freak myself out) Then, when I lost my baby 4 days before his due date, it became an urgency to get my hands on it as if I could somehow procure the answers to my own situation by simply reading a book. I checked it out from a library 6 days after my son's death. It didn't offer me answers, but gave me something else more valuable - a deep connection to another women in my situation. I'm so grateful I had this book to turn to through the first month of my loss.Early on in the book McCracken states that this is the happiest story in the world with the saddest ending, but I found the opposite to be just as equally true. This book IS incredibly sad. It is also one of the happiest books I've ever read about losing a baby. I related to it on so many levels and found it so much more comforting than anything about angels or going towards the light. It embraces the here and now with all this world's grief and joy mingled together instead of trying to find easy answers or build up the unknown.I thought it was funny that she wished for a book that shared the lighter side of losing a child because, through her honesty, optimism, and humor, she manages to produce that very book for others. This is a must-read for anybody that has lost a loved one or for anybody that wishes to better understand someone that has.

This book was recommended to me to help me to understand the feelings of the bereaved mother of a stillborn child. She said it came closer than anything else she had read. I hope I have learned from this book what not to say, but also that to say nothing can contribute to the grief of the mother, by not acknowledging the reality of her lost baby. This is a difficult book to read, yet will make you laugh, too. If you, or someone close to you, have been affected by stillbirth, please try it, as well as contacting SANDS, the stillbirth and neo-natal death society, at www.uk-sands.org, who provide wonderful support.

Who would have thought that a book on the loss of a baby could be such an enjoyable read, though enjoyable is not the right word. The author takes us through devastating sadness and leaves us with such happiness. Her writing makes you keep on wanting to read the next page, knowing that it might contain something heartbreaking but might contain something uplifting instead. A well written book from beginning to end. I'm glad I read it and highly recommend it.

Bought this book not long after my sisters baby was stillborn at 38 weeks . Was one of the nicer books we've read in the fact that it's the true story of the author , written in a very real way . Many points were similar to my sisters experience and it was softer to read than a lot of other books of a similar nature .

Having lost my baby son recently this book helped me during the early days following my loss. It may help others but its such a personal situation to be faced with plus grief affects people differently. I would recommend it though.

A truthful and relateable account of pregnancy after loss. I found this book so helpful, it's nice to know someone else feels the same way you do and its OK to feel like this. Its also nice to find someone that says its OK to not refer to your baby as an angel and your ongoing grief is 'allowed' .