Twin A: A Memoir

Shortly
after learning they would become the parents of twins, the physician-writer
Amit Majmudar and his wife received a devastating in utero diagnosis: one
of the twins had a potentially fatal congenital heart defect.

Written in
the form of an extended letter, Twin A recounts the epic story of the
open-heart surgeries, complications, and prolonged recoveries that Majmudar's
son survived in infancy and early childhood. But the narrative turns into
something much richer and more expansive than the mere description of a
surgical history. Thanks to Majmudar’s ample gifts as a wordsmith, medical and
scientific information frequently give way to original poetry and fables,
family history, and a series of evocative religious and philosophical
reflections about matters of life and death.

The result
is a fresh, captivating exploration of the events that transform his son and
everyone around him. Drawing strength and beauty from catastrophe, Majmudar’s Twin
A creates a moving portrait of a family’s love and a child’s extraordinary resilience.