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

"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


"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 Newman, author of Waiting for Birdy


"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

A devoted Christian family woman recounts the wrenching loss of her first husband and her joyful years of raising a blended family before confronting fears surrounding her son's decision to enlist in the military. By the author of the national best-seller Here If You Need me. 40,000 first printing.