This book is about what it means to make a choice. As mothers, how do we carry life and death in our bodies and survive with our hearts intact?The Heart Folds Early is a story of transformation through tragedy, and an examination of the way in which great loss can make us simultaneously fearful and intrepid. Emerging from a childhood that included both devastating sexual abuse and the sustaining joy of being deeply (if imperfectly) loved, Jill Christman’s ...

Winner of the 2023 Book of the Year Award from Chicago Writers AssociationFinalist for the 2023 Heartland Booksellers AwardSilver Winner for the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book AwardIf This Were Fiction is a love story—for Jill Christman’s long-ago fiancé, who died young in a car accident; for her children; for her husband, Mark; and ultimately, for herself. In this collection, Christman takes on the wide range of situations and landscapes she enco...

New York Times Bestseller“This is a devastating book, heartbreaking in how familiar and relatable each story is—yet there’s power and solidarity in it, too.” — ShondalandEdited and with an introduction by Roxane Gay, the New York Times bestselling and deeply beloved author of Bad Feminist and Hunger, this anthology of first-person essays from writers including Gabrielle Union, Bra...