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Just released
The Shoulder Season by Ann Campanella The summer before the pandemic, on the brink of an empty nest, Ann trips over her golden retriever in the dark and lands hard, fracturing her shoulder. This freak injury leads to severe pain and multiple surgeries. The doctor eventually predicts a two-year recovery. A long-time horsewoman, animal and nature lover, her extended convalescence becomes an incubator where she must reimagine her future. The Shoulder Season serves as a guide and an inspiration for those facing a life interrupted and what feels like an insurmountable recovery. BookLife calls this book "is a striking testament to the resilience of the human body and spirit.” |
Reviews:
"The Shoulder Season is utterly heartbreaking and wonderfully absorbing and, finally, brings a beautifully observed resolution. As you turn the pages of this life-affirming memoir, you’ll look at your own challenges anew, and you, too, will learn how to lift your chin above the bar."
-Judy Goldman, author of Together: A Memoir of a Marriage and Medical Mishap
(Nan A Talese/ Doubleday) and The Rest of Our Lives (Blair)
"Ann’s breathtaking prose … invites readers to journey alongside her … where every step leads her down a transformative path of profound growth."
– Gilda Morina Syverson, author of A Healing Journey, From 9/11 Beyond the Pandemic and My Father’s Daughter, From Rome to Sicily
"Anyone who has ever faced an obstacle that seems insurmountable will be inspired by this deeply affecting memoir.”
-Lisa Williams Kline, award-winning author of Ladies’ Day and The Ruby Mirror
"Ann poignantly shares her pain and growth in the wake of her accident and many months of healing. As bone and tissue heal, strengthen, and become more flexible, Ann’s life also goes through changes. Her memoir shows how circumstances take us where we never dreamed we would go, but the spiritual and relational growth gained along the way leads to beautiful places.”
-Chip Sneed, church planter, founding pastor of NorthCross Church
“The Shoulder Season is an inspirational story about resilience, perseverance, and transformation.... Ann is a true wordsmith.... As a practicing orthopedic surgeon, I am fully aware of the severity of her injury, the complexity of her multiple surgeries, and the painfully slow pace of rehab. Her recovery over two years is quite remarkable, all the while juggling the vicissitudes of family life. I wish all my patients had her determination and drive to get better.”
-Lance Sisco, MD, orthopedic surgeon
“After a life spent outdoors—playing sports, riding horses, and working around the farm—Campanella suffers a brutal fall that shatters her shoulder bone. In its aftermath, her world comes to a standstill, as simple tasks she once took for granted become exercises in hard work and patience … under the weight of a fractured identity…. But her writing tackles much more than just recovery: it swells to give readers a holistic account of her life in those two years of healing…. This [book] is a striking testament to the resilience of the human body and spirit.”
-BookLife
“A hardship need not afflict the whole world to affect your entire world. For Ann Campanella, a single accident kicks off a torrent of trials that reshapes her life…. Campanella’s realistic recall of events, her knack for dramatic timing, and her crystal-clear voice hit with all the emotional impact of an action-packed fiction novel…. So many moments will strike a familiar chord with those grasping to make sense of chaos while in the throes of agony or distress…. The Shoulder Season is an encouraging account about fighting catastrophe and despair with resilience, faith, and gratitude.”
-Nicky Flowers, reviewer for Indies Today
“Everything changes in the blink of an eye as Campanella tackles pain and a vastly revised future …. The hope that resonates at each step is something readers … need in order to … maintain their own upward momentums in the face of impossible circumstances…. Ann Campanella shines [as she] … encourages her readers to move into the light of self-realization and novel opportunities that might not have emerged without the Pandora’s box of pain preceding hope.”
-D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
"The Shoulder Season is utterly heartbreaking and wonderfully absorbing and, finally, brings a beautifully observed resolution. As you turn the pages of this life-affirming memoir, you’ll look at your own challenges anew, and you, too, will learn how to lift your chin above the bar."
-Judy Goldman, author of Together: A Memoir of a Marriage and Medical Mishap
(Nan A Talese/ Doubleday) and The Rest of Our Lives (Blair)
"Ann’s breathtaking prose … invites readers to journey alongside her … where every step leads her down a transformative path of profound growth."
– Gilda Morina Syverson, author of A Healing Journey, From 9/11 Beyond the Pandemic and My Father’s Daughter, From Rome to Sicily
"Anyone who has ever faced an obstacle that seems insurmountable will be inspired by this deeply affecting memoir.”
-Lisa Williams Kline, award-winning author of Ladies’ Day and The Ruby Mirror
"Ann poignantly shares her pain and growth in the wake of her accident and many months of healing. As bone and tissue heal, strengthen, and become more flexible, Ann’s life also goes through changes. Her memoir shows how circumstances take us where we never dreamed we would go, but the spiritual and relational growth gained along the way leads to beautiful places.”
-Chip Sneed, church planter, founding pastor of NorthCross Church
“The Shoulder Season is an inspirational story about resilience, perseverance, and transformation.... Ann is a true wordsmith.... As a practicing orthopedic surgeon, I am fully aware of the severity of her injury, the complexity of her multiple surgeries, and the painfully slow pace of rehab. Her recovery over two years is quite remarkable, all the while juggling the vicissitudes of family life. I wish all my patients had her determination and drive to get better.”
-Lance Sisco, MD, orthopedic surgeon
“After a life spent outdoors—playing sports, riding horses, and working around the farm—Campanella suffers a brutal fall that shatters her shoulder bone. In its aftermath, her world comes to a standstill, as simple tasks she once took for granted become exercises in hard work and patience … under the weight of a fractured identity…. But her writing tackles much more than just recovery: it swells to give readers a holistic account of her life in those two years of healing…. This [book] is a striking testament to the resilience of the human body and spirit.”
-BookLife
“A hardship need not afflict the whole world to affect your entire world. For Ann Campanella, a single accident kicks off a torrent of trials that reshapes her life…. Campanella’s realistic recall of events, her knack for dramatic timing, and her crystal-clear voice hit with all the emotional impact of an action-packed fiction novel…. So many moments will strike a familiar chord with those grasping to make sense of chaos while in the throes of agony or distress…. The Shoulder Season is an encouraging account about fighting catastrophe and despair with resilience, faith, and gratitude.”
-Nicky Flowers, reviewer for Indies Today
“Everything changes in the blink of an eye as Campanella tackles pain and a vastly revised future …. The hope that resonates at each step is something readers … need in order to … maintain their own upward momentums in the face of impossible circumstances…. Ann Campanella shines [as she] … encourages her readers to move into the light of self-realization and novel opportunities that might not have emerged without the Pandora’s box of pain preceding hope.”
-D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Motherhood: Lost and Found
by Ann Campanella
#1 Bestseller on Amazon - Eldercare
Bronze Medalist, Readers' Favorite
Finalist, Next Generation Book Awards
Italian Equestrian Book Award, "Voices for Horses"
Motherhood: Lost and Found is a memoir by the poet Ann Campanella. She tells the emotional story of losing her mother to Alzheimer's at the same time she is trying to become a mother.
Freelance writer and horsewoman Ann Campanella returns to North Carolina after being away from her family for several years. She teaches horseback riding to a group of young girls who remind her of herself at that age – warm, fun loving, exuberant, fragile. She and her husband are ready to start a family. In her mid-thirties, Ann is used to setting goals and accomplishing them. Weakness is foreign to her. But when her mother shows signs of illness and her mind begins to fail at the same time Ann experiences a series of miscarriages, the author senses her world is about to change in ways she can only imagine.
Reviews:
"...some of the most truly lyrical writing you’ll ever encounter. She writes of grief and loss with heart wrenching honesty but without sentimentality then adds humor in such unexpected places I found myself laughing and crying all on the same page."
- Judith Minthorn Stacy, author of Maggie Sweet, winner of the Carolina Novel Award
"A sensitive, in-depth study of one woman’s slow descent into Alzheimer’s as detailed by her daughter, Motherhood: Lost and Found involves us in the dynamic of a multi-generational family as well as the author’s own story: horses, poetry, three terrible miscarriages, and in her 41st year, a final miracle."
- Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, author of numerous books
When I finished Ann Campanella’s remarkable memoir, Motherhood: Lost and Found, I tried to put my finger on what it was that had gripped me so in the reading of it. Was it the extraordinary dignity that she gave to her mother and father (whose age I am approaching) in the telling of the story? Yes, it was that, but it was something more -- what I would like to call the author’s ability to tell the story without getting in the way of it, without putting herself as character in an obtrusive position. What the book is finally about is not Ann and her mother, but family -- the love of a family -- Rose, Will, Nate and Ann and their parents, and how that love sustained them during a long and painful crisis, and how Ann’s relationship with her husband Joel was deepened and enriched by that crisis, and how three generations are better than two. It is a ruthlessly honest book about pain and suffering, but ultimately it is a redemptive book in which we are left with a final image of symbiotic love. Motherhood: Lost and Found has much to teach us all as human beings.
- Anthony (Tony) Abbott, Professor Emeritus at Davidson College, Winner of the Novello Festival Press Book Award for his novel, Leaving Maggie Hope.
To order books or find out more about this memoir, visit Ann's website or email her.
by Ann Campanella
#1 Bestseller on Amazon - Eldercare
Bronze Medalist, Readers' Favorite
Finalist, Next Generation Book Awards
Italian Equestrian Book Award, "Voices for Horses"
Motherhood: Lost and Found is a memoir by the poet Ann Campanella. She tells the emotional story of losing her mother to Alzheimer's at the same time she is trying to become a mother.
Freelance writer and horsewoman Ann Campanella returns to North Carolina after being away from her family for several years. She teaches horseback riding to a group of young girls who remind her of herself at that age – warm, fun loving, exuberant, fragile. She and her husband are ready to start a family. In her mid-thirties, Ann is used to setting goals and accomplishing them. Weakness is foreign to her. But when her mother shows signs of illness and her mind begins to fail at the same time Ann experiences a series of miscarriages, the author senses her world is about to change in ways she can only imagine.
Reviews:
"...some of the most truly lyrical writing you’ll ever encounter. She writes of grief and loss with heart wrenching honesty but without sentimentality then adds humor in such unexpected places I found myself laughing and crying all on the same page."
- Judith Minthorn Stacy, author of Maggie Sweet, winner of the Carolina Novel Award
"A sensitive, in-depth study of one woman’s slow descent into Alzheimer’s as detailed by her daughter, Motherhood: Lost and Found involves us in the dynamic of a multi-generational family as well as the author’s own story: horses, poetry, three terrible miscarriages, and in her 41st year, a final miracle."
- Maxine Kumin, Pulitzer Prize winning poet, author of numerous books
When I finished Ann Campanella’s remarkable memoir, Motherhood: Lost and Found, I tried to put my finger on what it was that had gripped me so in the reading of it. Was it the extraordinary dignity that she gave to her mother and father (whose age I am approaching) in the telling of the story? Yes, it was that, but it was something more -- what I would like to call the author’s ability to tell the story without getting in the way of it, without putting herself as character in an obtrusive position. What the book is finally about is not Ann and her mother, but family -- the love of a family -- Rose, Will, Nate and Ann and their parents, and how that love sustained them during a long and painful crisis, and how Ann’s relationship with her husband Joel was deepened and enriched by that crisis, and how three generations are better than two. It is a ruthlessly honest book about pain and suffering, but ultimately it is a redemptive book in which we are left with a final image of symbiotic love. Motherhood: Lost and Found has much to teach us all as human beings.
- Anthony (Tony) Abbott, Professor Emeritus at Davidson College, Winner of the Novello Festival Press Book Award for his novel, Leaving Maggie Hope.
To order books or find out more about this memoir, visit Ann's website or email her.
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Celiac Mom
by Ann Campanella 2020 Indies Today Award Finalist Recommended Read, Indies Today 2020 Wishing Shelf Book Award Finalist Celiac Mom charts the course of a noncook determined to keep her young daughter safe from gluten, a substance that is literally poisoning her. The author reveals the challenges of upending a wheat-filled life in order to embrace a healthy future for her family. Order book here. |
Praise for Celiac Mom
A motivating story that should be read by everyone that needs to avoid gluten.
-Jordan Ehmann, Indies Today
This should be the book of choice given to any parent holding a new diagnosis of a child's celiac condition and wondering what to do next.
-D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
A fascinating insight into a mother's attempts to keep her daughter safe from gluten. A finalist and highly recommended!
-The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Beautifully captures not only the intricacies of celiac disease and the gluten free diet, but also the complex emotional component experienced by patients, families and friends who are all ultimately affected.
-Margaret Weiss, Registered Dietitian, Author of Eat Your Rice Cakes
The only way to counteract celiac disease is to eliminate gluten from the diet totally, all day, every day, most likely forever. With meticulous detail and heartfelt emotion, Ann explains how this is achieved, describing pitfalls that have severe consequences and her inadequacies at certain undertakings. Ann's book advances the understanding of celiac disease as well as demonstrates the blessing of having a dedicated caregiver in this monumental task of eliminating gluten from the American diet.
-Deb Waldron, Registered Dietitian, Co-author of Health & High Performance
In Celiac Mom, we see Ann's loving, nurturing . . . concern with guarding her daughter from the gluten society we live in. Not only does our author perfect the role of protector and nurturer, but as Sydney grows older, we see Ann's way of life and food prep as a great model for her daughter and anyone needing to follow a celiac diet.
-Gilda Morina Syverson, Memoir Instructor, Award-winning author of My Father's Daughter, From Rome to Sicily
The thing I liked best about this fascinating and timely book is how valuable it is for those of us who do not have celiac and who need, very badly, to understand it if we are to help those--often members of our own family--who do have gluten allergies . . . . A moving story and a useful guide.
-Anthony S. Abbott, Member of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, Award-winning author of Leaving Maggie Hope
A motivating story that should be read by everyone that needs to avoid gluten.
-Jordan Ehmann, Indies Today
This should be the book of choice given to any parent holding a new diagnosis of a child's celiac condition and wondering what to do next.
-D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
A fascinating insight into a mother's attempts to keep her daughter safe from gluten. A finalist and highly recommended!
-The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Beautifully captures not only the intricacies of celiac disease and the gluten free diet, but also the complex emotional component experienced by patients, families and friends who are all ultimately affected.
-Margaret Weiss, Registered Dietitian, Author of Eat Your Rice Cakes
The only way to counteract celiac disease is to eliminate gluten from the diet totally, all day, every day, most likely forever. With meticulous detail and heartfelt emotion, Ann explains how this is achieved, describing pitfalls that have severe consequences and her inadequacies at certain undertakings. Ann's book advances the understanding of celiac disease as well as demonstrates the blessing of having a dedicated caregiver in this monumental task of eliminating gluten from the American diet.
-Deb Waldron, Registered Dietitian, Co-author of Health & High Performance
In Celiac Mom, we see Ann's loving, nurturing . . . concern with guarding her daughter from the gluten society we live in. Not only does our author perfect the role of protector and nurturer, but as Sydney grows older, we see Ann's way of life and food prep as a great model for her daughter and anyone needing to follow a celiac diet.
-Gilda Morina Syverson, Memoir Instructor, Award-winning author of My Father's Daughter, From Rome to Sicily
The thing I liked best about this fascinating and timely book is how valuable it is for those of us who do not have celiac and who need, very badly, to understand it if we are to help those--often members of our own family--who do have gluten allergies . . . . A moving story and a useful guide.
-Anthony S. Abbott, Member of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, Award-winning author of Leaving Maggie Hope
More Books by Ann Campanella
What Flies Away tells the story in poetry of the author’s mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s, her father’s sudden death and the miracle of her daughter’s birth. Campanella received the Poet Laureate Award twice for two poems "The Chase" and "How to Grieve," both of which are included in the collection.
Click on cover to order book.
Click on cover to order book.
The Beach Poems is a collection of poetry inspired by Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea. After caring for a loved one who had Alzheimer's for 14 years, Ann Campanella went on a series of retreats at the beach. These retreats inspired memories and nourished her soul, ultimately carrying the author through grief to a place of joy.
Click on cover to order book.
Click on cover to order book.
