What You Take with You

A memoir of disaster, survival, and “how our treasured objects can be the priceless vessels that carry the stories of both our past and our future” (Diane Schoemperlen, author of This Is Not My Life).

Four years after Therese Greenwood and her husband moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta, their new community was shattered by one of the worst wildfires in Canadian history. As the flames approached, they had only minutes to pack, narrowly escaping a fire that would rage for weeks, burn more than 85,000 hectares and force 80,000 people to flee. In this book, she tells her dramatic story, and contemplates mourning, memory, and rebuilding.

“By considering the things that she lost in the blaze and the things that were saved, Greenwood takes the reader with her through her own evacuation, the road to safety, the grief that she experienced on losing her home, and the steps to her recovery . . . a beautiful book, sharply observed [and] gripping.” —Miranda Hill, author of Sleeping Funny