Loved and Wanted chronicles the author’s struggles with a broken health care system.
“I only had four months to write the book.
And I wanted to know why.
Credit: Nina Subin; Macmillan
In the end, Parravani’s taboo-breaking memoir was the ultimate act of love for her children.
Read on for more from EW’s chat with the author.
CHRISTA PARRAVANI:It’s been a really strange time to publish a book.
I feel like, no matter what happens with the publication of this book, I did my job.
The conversation around health care is more essential now than it ever was before.
This book is so naked and so raw were you scared to share this story?
I was so afraid to share this story, but I was also afraid of not sharing the story.
I needed it to have that rawness to it.
And so I wrote it in a way in which the voice is really bare.
Why was that meaningful to you to tease out in this broader way?
[Laughs] [This interview was conducted the daybeforeJoe Biden was projected to win the election.]
How are you feeling now, hopefully on the precipice of a new era?
So these issues exist outside of Trump.
So my relief over the outcome of this election is palpable.
We still need to have this conversation.
That erosion comes up in the stark contrast between your experiences seeking health care in West Virginia and California.
But another thread throughout the book is a sort of reflection upon place and home.
Why was that theme essential to this story for you?
This is my country,” and still be able to take a critical look at it.
But that didn’t stop me from wanting to make a home for myself there.
or “Why don’t you just live in Los Angeles?”
This is your story, but it inevitably involves and affects the people closest to you.
You mention that your husband did not love the concept of the book at one time.
I think that any good piece of art has to be honest.
In a good book, you have no choice but to tell the truth.
And it’s just something that we both understand.
And this book comes out of that.
This story is as much his story as it is my story.
The story is born out of a lack of choice that I had in the state of West Virginia.
But I did write it for them.
What do you hope readers take from the book?
Because those stories are transformative for other people.
