The Anti-Romantic Child

“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.   A mother’s romantic ideals meet the reality of her son’s brilliant, baffling mind. Hyperlexia: Discovering her son Benjamin’s precocious ability to read is not a sign of genius, but a complex condition that challenges every assumption she holds about communication and connection. Special Needs Parenting: A raw and honest account of navigating a world of therapies, diagnoses, and unforeseen challenges while fighting to see the unique child behind the label. A Mother’s Memoir: With the lyrical sensibility of a literary scholar, Gilman chronicles her own transformation from a mother grieving a lost dream to one celebrating the profound, unexpected gifts of her son. Literature and Life: How the poetry of Wordsworth—and the romantic ideals of childhood he championed—becomes both a source of pain and a powerful lens for understanding and ultimately embracing her "anti-romantic" son.