Spelling Love with an X: A Mother, A Son, and the Gene that Binds Them [Paperback]

Clare Dunsford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

When her son, J.P., was first diagnosed with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of mental retardation, Clare Dunsford discovered that she and three of her four siblings carried the fragile X premutation and had therefore passed on the full mutation to J.P. and several of his cousins. An English professor by training, Dunsford draws on poetry to explore her new identity as a "mutant" and reflect on her life with J.P., a colorful young man with great verbal dexterity and a lovable cheeky streak. Brimming with warmth, Spelling Love with an X shares the disarming insights of a compassionate scholar on motherhood, disability, and genetic inheritance.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Through vivid descriptions of her relationship with J.P., readers can glimpse the parental highs and lows of life with a child who has developmental delays. —Lisa M. Jordan, Library Journal

"Clare Dunsford navigates the X that has mapped her own and her son's paths with humor, honesty, and clear-sighted intelligence-and in prose that sings."—Elizabeth Graver, author of The Honey Thief and Awake

"Dunsford does much more than inform us concerning a disorder we know too little about. Through a prose both lucid and beautiful, she is able to communicate the strangeness, even the poetry, of fragile X." —Clara Claiborne Park, author of The Siege and Exiting Nirvana

"Spelling Love with an X is one woman's beautifully written journey toward understanding herself, her son, and the twists of fate and DNA that bind them and all of us. Clare Dunsford's powerful and moving memoir is rich with humor, poetry and, most of all, love." —Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Choosing Naia: A Family's Journey

"Dunsford uses poetry and candor to document a condition the world knows little about by inviting the reader into snapshots of the disability that has been woven throughout the fabric of her life-from coming to terms with her role as a carrier to the poetic retelling of the roller coaster that is life with her son." —Boston Globe

About the Author

Clare Dunsford is an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston College and has been a contributing writer for Boston College Magazine. She was previously an adjunct lecturer in English at Boston College and Harvard University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; Reprint edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080707280X
• ISBN-13: 978-0807072806
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and Intelligent, December 3, 2007

By 

Sheila J. Holt (Barrington, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spelling Love with an X: A Mother, A Son, and the Gene that Binds Them (Hardcover)

Clare Dunsford's book is an unusual blend of personal memoir and scientifically researched information drawn from a mother's poignant journey raising a child with Fragile X. Dunsford's book blends poetic elegance with important up to date information about her son's genetic condition, a useful read for anyone living or working with children or adults with any developmental disorder. As a special educator who is also an avid reader I was fascinated. Further, I learned of the relationship that this disorder may have to autism which has touched my extended family and of the hope that the future of medical research holds for all those affected by developmental conditions. Ms Dunsford tells her story with strong emotion and wonderfully crafted writing but does not stray from her goal of sharing the knowledge base she has been accumulating over the 21 years of her charming and interesting son's life.

1.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended to parents with newly diagnosed children with Fragile X, July 21, 2010

By 

MJ - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spelling Love with an X: A Mother, A Son, and the Gene that Binds Them (Paperback)

I downloaded this book to my iPhone Kindle app months after my son's Fragile X diagnosis. The emotional theme of this book is extremely depressing with very little hope, I wish I had never read it as it threw me into a deep depression that took a long time rebound from. I feel that the author is depressed and it shown clearly through her subjective lens of raising her son with Fragile X. DO NOT READ if you have just had a diagnosis! Depression for parents after their children's FX diagnosis is very normal and for me and my wife it was devastating, this book was like being hit in the head with a hammer after I had already been knocked out.

My wife and I are doing better and are working diligently to raise our son with positive feelings, happiness, focusing on the good things, being thankful for what we have, and enjoying the simple things in life. This book does nothing to help you in any of these positive ways.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mother's Story Told with Great Courage, January 22, 2008

By 

Mary Lou Supple (north of Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spelling Love with an X: A Mother, A Son, and the Gene that Binds Them (Hardcover)

As a parent of a son with Fragile X who is a couple of years younger than Ms. Dunsford's son, J.P., we've experienced the despair as well as the joy she writes of. Her story is beautifully written and shines with the love we have and hope we need for the future for our adult children. She is able to describe the charming, witty character of her son in a way that rings true for parents of children with Fragile X. It's her own story as well. Life as a carrier of Fragile X has its own challenges - ones you might believe are your own character faults - until you find out, at whatever age, that you are a carrier and that the personal battles you've fought for so long are the result of a genetic defect you were born with. The science is helpful. The research is hopeful. Parents, family, carriers, friends should read this book to get a good look at life with Fragile X.