A searing, unflinchingly intimate memoir about one young couple caught up in the machinery of America’s military system, learning to live and love through war and all that comes after
“Astonishing . . . both a love story and a gripping account of the cost of war.”—Stephanie Land, bestselling author of Maid and Class
Karie Fugett is living out of her car in a Kmart parking lot when her boyfriend, Cleve, suggests, “Maybe we could get married or somethin’.” Karie says yes out of love but also out of convenience. As a twenty-year-old high school dropout who ran away from her family and recently lost her job, Karie has nowhere else to turn. Just months after they elope, Cleve’s Marine unit is deployed to Iraq. It isn’t long before Karie gets the call: Cleve’s Humvee has been hit by an IED, and he’s suffered severe injuries.
Karie rushes to Walter Reed, where she’s told it’s a miracle that her husband has survived. “Happy Alive Day, man,” a fellow vet says to Cleve, explaining that this will always be the day when he was given a second chance at life. Newlyweds barely out of their teens, Karie and Cleve are thrust into utterly foreign roles. Karie tries to adapt to her job as a caregiver, navigating the labyrinthine system of veterans affairs, hospital bureaucracies, and doctors who do little more than shrug when she raises concerns about Cleve’s dependency on painkillers. It is clear to Karie that Cleve is using opiates to dull a pain that is more than physical. She catches his first overdose, but what if she can’t save him a second time? Will she still be able to save herself?
Fugett’s story depicts an oft-overlooked reality of war: the experience of the many thousands of caregivers and spouses—mostly women, mostly young, mostly poor—whose lives have been shattered by battles fought against enemies abroad and against addiction at home. Tender, vivid, and laced with dark humor, Alive Day is at once an epic and engrossing love story, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and a powerful indictment of the sins of a nation.
“Karie Fugett’s Alive Day is as true a war story as any I’ve read. Like war itself, it’ll break your heart.”—Elliot Ackerman, author of Dark at the Crossing
“Karie Fugett’s voice sings with deliberate, horrific, powerful, beautiful knowing about war and the human toll it demands. Her words shine humanity on those of us who volunteered before we understood the actual cost, all while she stands before us an open wound, not begging for aid but demanding that we bear witness.”—Matt Young, author of Eat the Apple
“An essential, urgent reminder of the cost of war and a savage, gritty, and romantic monument to those who pay it . . . Karie Fugett’s memoir is deeply felt and disturbingly funny. I hope it pisses you off. We should be pissed off.”—Lauren Hough, author of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing
“Shimmering with heart and humanity . . . There are scenes from this powerful memoir that will forever be seared into my mind.”—Simone Gorrindo, author of The Wives
“Alive Day is a riveting and clear-eyed memoir about love, class, war, and the consequences of all of those. This urgent and necessary book is a gift, a marvel, a reckoning. I wish every American would read it.”—Justin St. Germain, author of Son of a Gun
“Gutsy, tightly written, emotionally powerful without an ounce of cheap sentiment.”—Phil Klay, author of Redeployment
“An astonishing debut memoir . . . Karie Fugett exposes the predatory nature of the military and humanizes the young, often impoverished kids that our country depends on to fight and die in its wars. Both a love story and a gripping account of the forever wars from the unique perspective of a military widow, Alive Day goes beyond the sacrifices of a regular deployment and explores the reality of living and loving through the worst-case scenario. It serves as a crucial reminder of the aftermath of war and the kids left to clean up the mess.”—Stephanie Land, bestselling author of Maid and Class
“With plainspoken, precise prose, Fugett narrates her own improbable journey. . . . A grim odyssey, captured unsparingly. . . . Although her story concludes with a glimmer of hope, [her husband’s] horrific wounding and subsequent mismanaged care clearly mirror the trials of many military families. . . . A sharp, moving memoir debut with unsettling implications about national service.”—Kirkus Review, starred review
“Raw and searing . . . This is an essential and unique memoir that should be read by those wanting a better understanding of military families’ difficulties and the ramifications of sending loved ones to war.”—Library Journal, starred review
Karie Fugett holds a BA from the University of South Alabama and an MFA in creative nonfiction from Oregon State University. Alive Day is her first book.
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