In the wake of Texas enacting a bill to deny abortions after 6 weeks, Loved and Wanted shines a light on motherhood and the right to choose. 'Haunting, wild, and quiet at once. A shimmering look at motherhood, in all gothic pain and glory. I could not stop reading.' Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women A harrowing account of one woman's reckoning with life, death and choice in Trump's America. For readers of Educated and Hillbilly Elegy. In 2017, Christa Parravani had recently moved her family from California to West Virginia. Surviving on a teacher's salary, she was already raising two young children with her husband, screenwriter Anthony Swofford. Another pregnancy, a year after giving birth to her second child, came as a shock. Christa had a history of ectopic pregnancies and was worried that she wouldn't be able to find adequate medical care. She immediately requested a termination - but her doctor refused to help. The only doctor who would perform an abortion made it clear that this would be illicit, not condoned by her colleagues or their community. In exploring her own choice, or rather in discovering her lack of it, Christa reveals the desperate state of female healthcare in contemporary America.

'Haunting, wild, and quiet at once. A shimmering look at motherhood, in all gothic pain and glory. I could not stop reading.' Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women A harrowing account of one woman's reckoning with life, death and choice in Trump's America. For readers of Educated and Hillbilly Elegy. In 2017, Christa Parravani had recently moved her family from California to West Virginia. Surviving on a teacher's salary, she was already raising two young children with her husband, screenwriter Anthony Swofford. Another pregnancy, a year after giving birth to her second child, came as a shock. Christa had a history of ectopic pregnancies and was worried that she wouldn't be able to find adequate medical care. She immediately requested a termination - but her doctor refused to help. The only doctor who would perform an abortion made it clear that this would be illicit, not condoned by her colleagues or their community. In exploring her own choice, or rather in discovering her lack of it, Christa reveals the desperate state of female healthcare in contemporary America. 'A brutally honest, rollercoaster of a journey that left me championing her bravery.' Esther Freud 'I will never forget this book. Read it. This is all I can say.' Rachel Louise Snyder 'Stunningly good' The Bookseller 'Everyone should read this book' Sarah Mansugo

"Wall Street Journal," "Favorite Books of the Year 2013"
"Cosmopolitan," "Best Books of the Year for Women"
"Library Journal," "Best Books of 2013"
"Salon," "Best Books of 2013"
"Haunting... more than a beautifully written memoir. A] powerful and raw love letter."--"The Washington Post
"A BLAZINGLY PASSIONATE MEMOIR OF IDENTITY AND LOVE: WHEN A CHARISMATIC AND TROUBLED YOUNG WOMAN DIES TRAGICALLY, HER IDENTICAL TWIN MUST STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE
Christa Parravani and her identical twin, Cara, were linked by a bond that went beyond siblinghood, beyond sisterhood, beyond friendship. Raised up from poverty by a determined single mother, the gifted and beautiful twins were able to create a private haven of splendor and merriment between themselves and then earn their way to a prestigious college and to careers as artists (a photographer and a writer, respectively) and to young marriages. But, haunted by childhood experiences with father figures and further damaged by being raped as a young adult, Cara veered off the path to robust work and life and in to depression, drugs and a shocking early death.

A few years after Cara was gone, Christa read that when an identical twin dies, regardless of the cause, 50 percent of the time the surviving twin dies within two years; and this shocking statistic rang true to her. "Flip a coin," she thought," those were my chances of survival." First, Christa fought to stop her sister's downward spiral; suddenly, she was struggling to keep herself alive.

Beautifully written, mesmerizingly rich and true, Christa Parravani's account of being left, one half of a whole, and of her desperate, ultimately triumphant struggle for survival is informative, heart-wrenching and unforgettably beautiful.

In the wake of Texas enacting a bill to deny abortions after 6 weeks, Loved and Wanted shines a light on motherhood and the right to choose. For readers of Educated and Hillbilly Elegy. In 2017, after becoming unexpectedly pregnant, Christa Parravani requested a termination. With two children already to care for and a history of ectopic pregnancies, she was worried she would not be able to find adequate medical care. However, when she asked for help, her doctor refused. The only doctor who would perform an abortion made it clear that this would be illicit, not condoned by her colleagues or their community. In exploring her own choice, or rather in discovering her lack of it, Christa reveals the desperate state of female healthcare in contemporary America, and examines her own reckoning with life, death and choice.