The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

Who it's for

This is one of the gentlest books there is about being laid up by illness or injury and not knowing when, or whether, you'll get better.

Feelings it meets

• Chronic Illness
• Loneliness
• Uncertainty

What it is

While on a trip in the Swiss Alps, Elisabeth Tova Bailey caught a virus that attacked her nervous system and left her bedridden, barely able to sit up or roll over. Moved to a studio apartment away from home, she waits without knowing if she will recover.

Where to find it

In print (Algonquin Books), widely in libraries (including Libby/OverDrive), and as an ebook and audiobook.

Before you start

Heads up: Prolonged serious illness and isolation.

Age: Ages 12+

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.Helen Keller, Optimism: An Essay