Anchor & Flares: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hope, and Service - Hardcover

Praise for Here If You Need Me

"Bracing and lovely... She brings the same mix of raw feeling, bravery and tenderness to her work in the field. It's hard to imagine a better companion with whom to sit out an agonizing wait or study the lessons of loss and a self-mended heart." "Martha Fay, More Magazine""

"A must-read for any parent who has tried to answer a child's hard questions or for anyone who has struggled to find meaning. Best of all, this remarkable true story is told with uncommon candor, grace and humor... This is one search-and-rescue you won't want to miss." "Martha White, Christian Science Monitor""

"A superbly crafted memoir of love, loss, grief, hope and the complex subtleties of faith."
"Jane Ciabattari, Washington Post""

Praise for Here If You Need Me "Bracing and lovely... She brings the same mix of raw feeling, bravery and tenderness to her work in the field. It's hard to imagine a better companion with whom to sit out an agonizing wait or study the lessons of loss and a self-mended heart."--Martha Fay, More Magazine "A must-read for any parent who has tried to answer a child's hard questions or for anyone who has struggled to find meaning. Best of all, this remarkable true story is told with uncommon candor, grace and humor... This is one search-and-rescue you won't want to miss."--Martha White, Christian Science Monitor "A superbly crafted memoir of love, loss, grief, hope and the complex subtleties of faith."
"Jane Ciabattari, Washington Post""

"Reading "Anchor and Flares" is like having a fiercely compassionate and comically no-nonsense best friend meandering with you through meditations on faith, war, death, and parenting. "Why? Why? Why?" Braestrup asks a million times, in a million different ways. Sometimes the answer is courage or grief or hope. But usually it's love."
"Catherine Newsman, author of Waiting for Birdy""

Praise for Here If You Need Me
"Bracing and lovely... She brings the same mix of raw feeling, bravery and tenderness to her work in the field. It's hard to imagine a better companion with whom to sit out an agonizing wait or study the lessons of loss and a self-mended heart."--Martha Fay, More Magazine
"A must-read for any parent who has tried to answer a child's hard questions or for anyone who has struggled to find meaning. Best of all, this remarkable true story is told with uncommon candor, grace and humor... This is one search-and-rescue you won't want to miss."--Martha White, Christian Science Monitor
"A superbly crafted memoir of love, loss, grief, hope and the complex subtleties of faith." "Jane Ciabattari, Washington Post""

"Sensitive and wholesomely charming, the book is refreshingly free of preachy proselytization and instead addresses the bittersweetness of parenthood and perennial nurturing. Braestrup delivers another appealing, tenderhearted memoir braiding faith and family."
"Kirkus""

"Kate Braestrup is funny, reflective, and--above all--honest. In Anchor and Flares, she has proven, once again, that she is a writer upon whom nothing is lost, even when her mind is reeling." Phyllis Theroux, author of Night Lights: Bedtime Stories for Parents in the Dark"

"Kate Braestrup is at the very top of her game with Anchor and Flares. She's working to understand the very heart of parenthood--the weave of attachments that make it almost impossible to do what we know we must: let go."
Kelly Corrigan, author of Glitter and Glue and The Middle Place"

Kate Braestrup's life was transformed by the loss of her husband; now Kate faces the possibility that she may lose her son.

As a young mother Kate Braestrup discovered the fierce protectiveness that accompanies parenthood. In the intervening years--through mourning her husband and the joy of remarriage and a blended family-Kate has absorbed the rewards and complications of that spirit.

But when her eldest son joins the Marines, Kate is at a crossroads: Can she reconcile her desire to protect her children with her family's legacy of service? Can parents balance the joy of a child's independence with the fear of letting go?

As Kate examines the twinned emotions of faith and fear-inspired by the families she meets as a chaplain and by her son's journey towards purpose and familyhood-she learns that the threats we can't predict will rip us apart and knit us together.