The Sweet Pain of Being Alive

Book excerpt: In the highly anticipated sequel to her award-winning memoir, Daring to Date Again (She Writes Press, 2014), The Sweet Pain of Being Alive is the second in Ann Anderson Evans’s memoir trilogy. It follows her heartbreaking journey as she seeks to uncover why her beloved husband killed himself. As her agonizing search deepens, her views on gender, sex, marriage, right, wrong, good, and bad start to shift. “Ann Anderson Evans is a fearless, fierce, divine, and wise woman who has dared to take a huge bite from Eve’s apple and has the guts to share the insights, fights, and delights she has met head-on.” – M.J. McDermott, Emmy award-winning broadcaster. “This book reveals a widow’s gut-wrenching process of scrutiny. In the aftermath of her beloved’s suicide, Ann Anderson Evans asks the questions all suicide survivors must ask: Why? Was his life really so bad? How could I have saved him? Futilely searching for answers to this inexplicable tragedy, Ann has beautifully, painfully dissected her relationship, her husband’s life, and his enduring struggles with depression and transgenderism. Ann is left to find acceptance and peace on her own. This is compelling reading.” – Leslie Hilburn Fabian, Author of My Husband’s a Woman Now: A Shared Journey of Transition and Love. “‘People are not always, maybe not ever, what they seem,’ writes Ann Anderson Evans. She thought she knew her husband Terry. What she didn’t know – the secret he only partially shared and his anguish about not claiming his authentic self – led him to suicide. ‘This book is stark, unflinching, intensely personal, and powerfully written. I loved the book, and I’m grateful to Ann Anderson Evans for having the courage to write it.’” – Joan Price, author of Sex After Grief: Navigating Your Sexuality After Losing Your Beloved.