When My Ghost Sings: A Memoir of Stroke, Recovery, and Transformation Paperback – 30 Nov. 2023

Tara Sidhoo Fraser writes a fascinating, understandable memoir about a topic-- reintegration with her wounded self, the font of most of her pre-stroke memories-- that takes immense courage and an ability to see herself as lovable, loving, and worthy of human agency.This book is a love story. The writer demonstrates love and gratitude on every page, for every person who plays a role in her life. In no instance does she come across as smarmy or inauthentic, but rather she gives life to the phrase "no judgment" that we hear bandied about so often these days. The important people in her recovery from a stroke are the people who have shown love, ambivalence, and sometimes, frustration, but whom Sidhoo Fraser honours for the love that underlines all else. Her mother (known as "Mama") is gentle, present, and affirmative throughout. Her father, "John", is not present during a long stretch of her life, but is not castigated for that, and is labeled "a good father" by Mama, which Sidhoo Fraser accepts. She also paints both of the lovers in the story as kind and loving.Sidhoo Fraser's relationship with her pre-stroke self-- her Ghost-- is the most dramatic and complex relationship sustained throughout the story. I am pretty sure that most, and likely all, readers will reflect on her description of her alter ego way beyond finishing the book.