STROKE MOSAÏQUE

A couple’s relationship is transformed by a stroke in by M. Kos y Gonzales’ memoir, written with R.P. Gonzales.

This remembrance, which alternates between sections attributed to Monika and Rob, branches into three main directions: It’s a love story of a married couple, an account of Rob’s stroke, and a diatribe against members of Rob’s family. Monika, a clinical psychologist, first met Rob, a former air traffic controller, at a flamenco fest in 2013. She had a serious car accident soon after their meeting, and he took care of her. Rob started a winery in Chama, New Mexico, but his family members, he says, betrayed him: A brother stole from him, he writes, and his daughter tried to thwart his marriage to Monika, while his ex-wife sought half of his retirement money. Then he had a severe stroke, and he awoke from his coma with aphasia, partial paralysis, and double vision. Monika helped him with recovery methods based on her work with neurologically disabled children. The life-changing event spurred Rob to cut unsupportive family members out of his life. The author makes an intriguing choice to describe a stroke’s aftermath from two separate points of view. In Rob’s narrative, he focuses on his feelings: He feels like “a passenger on the Titanic ship, sinking” after emerging from the coma, and has a sensation of being “inside a cocoon” when he can’t speak. Monika’s narrative is more treatment-oriented; under her care, Rob becomes a “neonate,” learning about art, dance, yoga, among other things, altering his diet and overall outlook. As the title indicates, the narrative is an ambitious “mosaïque” of bits and pieces of information. However, the varied components (medical facts and theories, philosophy, straightforward narration, outbursts about family members) don’t effectively mesh into a unified work. The work is also hampered by needlessly extravagant and distracting language (“Idealism and creativity were soaring, which unfortunately doused the scintillating dreams with reality, illness, and human malfeasance”). Rob does supply occasional touches of appealing humor, however: “At the rehab, I discovered my new exceptionality, a talent: being a ‘clumsy klutz.’”

An inspiring account of recovery that’s weakened by lack of focus and overly elaborate prose.