Lauren Marks
A Stitch of Time: The Year a Brain Injury Changed MyĀ Language and Life
(Simon & Schuster, Hardcover May 2017, Paperback May 2018)
In the bestselling tradition ofĀ Brain on FireĀ andĀ A Stroke of Insight, an incredible first-person account of one womanās journey to regaining her language and identity after a brain aneurysm affects her ability to communicate.
Lauren Marks was twenty-seven, singing karaoke with a friend, when an aneurysm ruptured in her brain. She woke up in a hospital with serious deficiencies to her reading, speaking, and writing abilities, and a diagnosis: aphasia. Shocking news to anyone, but for Lauren it was devastating. As an actress, writer, and voracious reader, her entire identity was crafted upon a language that her brain now couldnāt access. Forced to give up her independence, Lauren returned to her parentsā home to struggle with a stifled inner monologue, fractured sense of self, and a broken memory.
At the urging of her speech therapist and encouragement of her parents, Lauren began to chronicle her recovery.Ā A Stitch of TimeĀ is the remarkable result, the story of a brain slowly piecing together a forgotten languageāan Oliver Sacks-like case study, but written by the patient herself. With clinical research about aphasia and linguistics interwoven with deeply personal journal entries marking her progress, Lauren affords a rare glimpse into a mind in construction. Over time, frustration leads to fascination as Lauren re-learns and re-experiences many of the things we take for grantedāreading a book, understanding idioms, even sharing a first kiss.
A story about language and identity,Ā A Stitch in TimeĀ presents an unforgettable journey of self-discovery, resilience, and hope. As Lauren navigates the ups and downs of her year post-rupture and tries to reconcile āThe Girl I Used to Beā with āThe Girl I Am Now,ā she finds herself as she finds her words.
Praise for A Stitch of Time:
āEngrossingā¦Marks provides a story of hope.ā
āPublishers Weekly
āA Stitch of TimeĀ is fascinating reading for those who want to learn how language works.ā
āDr. Temple Grandin, author ofĀ The Autistic BrainĀ andĀ Thinking in Pictures
āIn this sometimes harrowing, sometimes funny, and always very human memoir, Lauren Marks brings us through the year an aneurysm ruptured in her brain leaving her with aphasia. How the loss and return of language changed her is a remarkable journey that she shares with intelligence and grace.Ā A Stitch of TimeĀ will leave you hopeful and dazzled and grateful that Marks found words again and shared them us here.ā
āAnn Hood, author ofĀ The Book That Matters MostĀ andĀ The Obituary Writer
“As an avid reader of neurologist Oliver Sacks, Iāve long been intrigued about the mysterious connections between the brain, the mind, and the imagination. But where Sacks writes about what his patients experience, we now get to hear directly from a patient. What a delight to read Lauren MarksāĀ A Stitch of Time!Ā Her writing is so good and her story so compelling. I devoured the book in a single night.”
āSidney D. Kirkpatrick,Ā New York TimesĀ best-selling author ofĀ A Cast of KillersĀ andĀ Edgar Cayce
āMarks is a gorgeous writer and her story of healing is moving, informative but above all a great read. . . I could not put this book down.ā
āHeidi W. Durrow,Ā New York TimesĀ bestselling author ofĀ The Girl Who Fell From the Sky
“There has been over aĀ century of research on Broca’s aphasia but few accounts of patients’ own experiences as they struggle to recover. Ā A Stitch of TimeĀ is a striking exception – it’s a thoughtful, introspective memoir that allows us to catch a rareĀ glimpse of the inner mental life of such patients.”
āDr. V.S. Ramachandran,Ā author ofĀ The Tell-Tale Brain
Watch Lauren Marks’s interview on TODAY with Maria Shriver
Review of A Stitch of Time in Publishers Weekly
Read theĀ Washington Post‘s profileĀ of Lauren Marks andĀ A Stitch of Time
Listen to Lauren Marks in conversation with Michael Antonia of THEFLASHDANCE
Listen to Lauren Marks’s interview on The AllusionistĀ podcast
Listen to Lauren Marks’s interview on Life Stories by Beatrice.com
Lauren Marks is a Los Angeles native and a New York University, Tisch School of the Arts graduate. She spent a decade in professional theater and pursued a PhD at The Graduate Center at City University of New York. When she was twenty-seven, she suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and documented her recovery through journals and writing. Her work has appeared inĀ Brain World,Ā Fresh Yarn,Ā and theĀ Huffington Post.Ā She has been awarded grants from the Bread Loaf Writing Conference, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, VCCA France, Ragdale, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Yaddo. In London, she has been an active advocate for those who live with language disorders like aphasia.Ā A Stitch of TimeĀ is her first book.