“The miracle of laughter is that it can live right in the middle of pain. One minute I can’t wrap my mind around the horror of my circumstances and the next, I am laughing, a brief reminder that I am still myself. No matter what has happened or will happen, the darkness doesn’t define me.

This isn’t an act of denial. It’s a beautiful paradox. Joy can live alongside sorrow, and laughter can live alongside pain, and the two don’t have to be at war. They can just be.

We can just be. In pain and full of joy all at the same time.”

-from Laughing at the Dark

From giant moths to raging toddlers, from marauding chipmunks to life-threatening illnesses, Deborah Dunlevy tackles the raw reality of life and motherhood. Her honesty and humor provoke laughter and tears at the same time, and her stories remind us that living is a messy and dangerous business for everyone so we are not alone in facing the dark.