Join us Saturday, November 7th to welcome Nancy Ronquillo who will share some of her new memoir, A Soldier in the Family: a Mother Confronts the Invisible Wounds of War.

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About Nancy’s writing:

“I began writing in earnest when I was about ten when I received my very first diary. It had a thick white cover, and the word DIARY was embossed in gold. From 1961 I have kept a diary or journal. I also wrote poems, short stories, and episodes for my favorite TV series, with me and my friends as characters in the diabolical plots.

A Soldier in the Family is my first memoir.”

About A Soldier in the Family:

“When my son Matt, a young paratrooper, returns home from Iraq, he brings a dusty bag of disposable cameras in his duffel. No one knows that a few months later he will die alongside his combat buddy. Consumed by this shattering loss, I begin a quest to understand what caused his death. A Soldier in the Family is a riveting tale that unveils powerful premonitions, stark truths, and dark secrets about the pull and presence of war in one family. My firsthand account takes the blinders off, sharing the ravages of past wars — in Iraq, Vietnam, Burma, France, and beyond — and the poison of their shadowy presence on generations of my family.

Rooted in America’s heartland, I struggled to find answers about what happened to my son, My journey plumbs the anguish and complex mystery of how to choose life after unfathomable loss. The hope and wisdom embedded in this story — of one soldier, one mother, one family — moves beyond the obvious to the hidden devastation and legacy burden of war. This stark yet uplifting experience brings light to war’s enduring aftermath: and a surprising alchemy of healing, and clarion call to wage peace.”