The Anti-Romantic Child: A Memoir of Unexpected Joy

“The Anti-Romantic Child is remarkable. This haunting and lyrical memoir will be an invaluable and heartening guide to all who find themselves in similar situations and indeed anyone confronting an unforeseen challenge.” —Marie Brenner, writer for Vanity Fair and author of Apples and Oranges

With an emotionally resonant combination of memoir and literature, Wordsworth scholar Priscilla Gilman recounts the challenges of raising a son with hyperlexia, a developmental disorder neurologically counterpoint to dyslexia. Gilman explores the complexities of our hopes and expectations for our children and ourselves. With luminous prose and a searing, personal story evocative of A Year of Magical Thinking and A Year of Reading Proust, Gilman’s The Anti-Romantic Child is an unforgettable exploration of what happens when we lean to embrace the unexpected.

What happens when a Wordsworth scholar, steeped in the romantic ideal of childhood, has a son who is profoundly anti-romantic?

• A Mother’s Journey with Hyperlexia: Follows Priscilla Gilman’s story from the first signs of her son Benj's developmental differences through diagnosis and the search for understanding and support.
• Wordsworth and Parenthood: Explores how the author, a scholar of Romantic poetry, uses literature to navigate the complex emotions of parenting a child with special needs and find a new definition of joy.
• Parenting a Child with Special Needs: An honest and luminous account of the challenges, frustrations, and profound rewards of raising a child who experiences the world differently.
• Redefining Expectations: A deeply moving look at letting go of the child you expected in order to embrace the extraordinary, loving, and unforgettable child you have.

Priscilla Gilman, a teacher of romantic poetry who embraced Wordsworth's vision of childhood's spontaneous wonder, eagerly anticipated the birth of her first child, certain that he would come "trailing clouds of glory." But as Benjamin grew, his remarkable precocity was associated with a developmental disorder that would dramatically alter the course of Priscilla’s dreams.

In The Anti-Romantic Child, a memoir full of lyricism and light, Gilman explores our hopes and expectations for our children, our families, and ourselves—and the ways in which experience may lead us to re-imagine them. Using literature as a touchstone, Gilman reveals her journey through crisis to joy, illuminating the flourishing of life that occurs when we embrace the unexpected. The Anti-Romantic Child is a profoundly moving and compellingly universal book about family, parenthood, and love.

The Anti-Romantic Child, Gilman's first book, was excerpted in Newsweek magazine and featured on the cover of its international edition in April 2011. It was an NPR Morning Edition Must-Read, Slate's Book of the Week, selected as one the Best Books of 2011 by the Leonard Lopate Show, and chosen as a Best Book of 2011 by The Chicago Tribune. The Anti-Romantic Child was one of five nominees for a Books for a Better Life Award for Best First Book.

“Rapturously beautiful and deeply moving, profound and marvelous.” - Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree

“Smart, soulful, and involving.” - Nick Hornby, The Believer

“This is a fascinating, tender, illuminating book about an extraordinary boy and his equally extraordinary mother. A wonderful read.” - Martha Beck, author of Expecting Adam and columnist for O magazine

“A book for all parents. . . . [Gilman’s] poignant story of reconciling fantasy with reality is a universal story of parental growth. A story to inspire us all.” - Ellen Galinsky, the Huffington Post

“A fantastic memoir. . . . I loved this book.” - KJ Dell'Antonia, lead blogger for the New York Times Motherlode

“What a glorious book Priscilla Gilman has written. Lively, eloquent, straightforward, and insightful, The Anti-Romantic Child deftly delineates and negotiates the complex cross-currents of a life of the mind and a life of the heart.” - Sandra Boynton, children's book author and illustrator

“A riveting and original book about love.” - Ann Beattie

“[A] lovely, thoughtful memoir.” - Boston Globe

“The Anti-Romantic Child is remarkable. This haunting and lyrical memoir will be an invaluable and heartening guide to all who find themselves in similar situations and indeed anyone confronting an unforeseen challenge.” - Marie Brenner, writer at large for Vanity Fair and author of Apples and Oranges

“Every parent should read this luminous book to absorb or absorb again the truth that every child is a surprise—a revelation—to be uniquely learned and understood as well as loved.” - Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing A Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom

“Unforgettable. . . . I couldn’t put this book down.” - Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project

“The Anti-Romantic Child is beautiful, poetic, and heartfelt. It’s more than a mother–child story; it’s a journey of self-discovery. It’s a book every parent should read.” - Kathryn Erskine, bestselling author of Mockingbird and winner of the 2010 National Book Award

“Gilman is at once lyrical and deeply analytical as she explores the complexities of parenthood and the need to embrace the unforeseen.” - Booklist (starred review)

“A meditation on both the ‘passionate work’ of motherhood and the wonderment of childhood.” - Vogue.com

“Priscilla Gilman movingly describes how her son’s struggle with hyperlexia put her in touch with her ‘deepest sense of what’s truly meaningful.’” - Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Beast

“Priscilla Gilman’s lyrical narrative is profoundly moving and ultimately joyous. It eloquently touches the universal.” - Harold Bloom

“The Anti-Romantic Child is such a profoundly moving book, I could hardly bear to read it. It is so riveting, I couldn’t stop. It is rich, informative and gorgeously written. If you don’t love it as much as I did, you must have left your heart in the taxi cab.” - Andre Gregory, theater director, writer, and star of My Dinner with Andre

“A striking celebration of the bond between a mother and son.” - Kirkus Reviews

“[A] beautifully sinuous and intensely literary celebration of the exceptional, unconventional child. . . . Her thoughtful memoir . . . delves lyrically into the rare, complex mind of the unusual child.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)