Christa Couture - How to Lose Everything: A Memoir about Losing My Children, My Leg, My Marriage, and My Voice

How to Lose Everything is a gift of a book that sparkles and sings, a sad story thats also delightful to read, richly told and bursting with wisdom. There is something to marvel at on every single page.

Kerry Clare, author of Waiting for a Star to Fall and Mitzi Bytes

How to Lose Everything is a collection of naked stories of enduring love, profound presence and a deep witnessing of the most precious moments of life. Couture writes through layers of grief and loss to show us what it means to love, to build a continuous life after losing everything and to be alive, anyway. A lovely and tender debut memoir that Ill carry with me always.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, author of Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies

How to Lose Everything is the most staggering account of loss since the Book of Job. And, like Job, Christa Couture has refused to lose faith. This is a powerful memoir of unimaginable suffering and unconquerable spirit.

Wayne Grady, author of Up From Freedom

Christa Couture knows better than most how fragile are our bodies, our aspirations, our human arrangements; how resistant they are to protection, how prone they are to rupture. A prolonged cry of anguish would be a reasonable response from someone who has endured her devastating losses; but How to Lose Everything is a thoughtful, spirited, even-handed, good-humoured, and unflinchingly honest anatomy of grief, forbearance, hope, and healing. Expect the miraculous, because here you will find it. Expect the gorgeous, because Christa Couture writes exactly as she sings: with heart, and beautifully.

Bill Richardson, author of I Saw Three Ships: West End Stories

It is not possible to reach this kind of poetic and beautiful telling of such a heartbreaking personal history without years of profound reflection and living with grief. How does a person survive such staggering losses? It is a huge relief to set down the burden of needing to be strong and get through everything. This is the timely and compassionate story that we all need to hear.

Leela Gilday, singer and songwriter

In How to Lose Everything, Christa Coutures warmth and humour never leave the room, even as she replays her lifes most devastating scenes. Is she tragic? Tough? Vulnerable? Strong? Shes all these things, unapologetically, and I learned so much from her beautiful refusal to stay silent.

Michelle Parise, author of Alone: A Love Story

As someone who also had cancer as a teenager, as well as being a new mother myself, reading this book felt like a heartfelt conversation with a friend. Christa Couture has experienced so much loss, but doesnt define herself by that: she is a woman in constant transformation, and writes about herself and her experiences with profound love and an astonishing acceptance.

Harriet Alida Lye, author of The Honey Farm and Natural Killer

Reading Christas story ... listening to Christas words ... hearing Christa play piano ... they are all important voices in this land bookended by salt water. I cant say enough good things or write enough kind words to say how wonderful and essential they are.

Jim Bryson, singer and songwriter

How do you lose everything? Christa Couture knows and shes here to lovingly and ever-so-gently let you in on her hard-won wisdom. Shell break your heart and put it back together anew: feeling the scars, hearing the echoes, and patiently waiting for the subtle openings of heart-bursting light. Listen closely, because shell teach you how to walk again.

Carys Cragg, author of Dead Reckoning

Christas voice and the things that make her remarkable are so tangible in her narrative: it is bravely open, it is generous when retelling of great sadness, it is candid and kind, with a sharp and quick humour that sneaks up on you in the most delightful way, at the right time.

Gabrielle Papillon, singer and songwriter

In How to Lose Everything, Christas wry response to a friend on how to have a happy relationship is, Avoid tragedy. None of us will avoid tragedy, but these stories are proof that there are so many rewards to be gained by moving forward bravely.

Rae Spoon, musician and author of How To (Hide) Be(hind) Your Songs

An astoundingly generous and compelling memoir. I could not put this book down, and I know I will return to these stories over and over again. How to Lose Everything is for anyone who has ever lost someone; for you, perhaps, who have come to know grief; for all of us who have had to learn how to walk again, after falling to the ground.

Smokii Sumac, author of you are enough: love poems for the end of the world

I didnt expect to stay up until two a.m., reading this book in one take, but it felt too important to put down. I wanted to stay with Christa through all of it, holding space for her story and her grief. She has shared unflinchingly and with grace and I will be sharing this book with many clients and friends whove been through their own hard journeys.

Heather Plett, author of The Art of Holding Space

If you've ever wondered how to lace together deep grief with hope, here is your manual. Couture manages to consistently inject humor throughout her walkabout as an artist and mother, with hilarious nicknames for central characters, including her own leg; Stump. Her humor is a testament to her skill as a storyteller and points to one of life's greatest missionsto find joy in sorrow. A MUST read for these trying times.

Kinnie Starr, singer and songwriter

Christa has a way of putting things into words that cut not only to the truth of the matter but also to the spirit. She shares pain and beauty all mixed up together. Here in How to Lose Everything, with oodles of bravery and love, she invites us all the way in, and shares everything.

Coco Love Alcorn, singer and songwriter

Christa Couture

A Memoir

Copyright 2020 Christa Couture

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Access Copyright, .

Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd.

P.O. Box 219, Madeira Park, BC , V 0 N 2 H 0

www.douglas-mcintyre.com

Edited by Barbara Pulling

Dust jacket design by Diane Robertson

Text design by Shed Simas / Ona Design

Printed and bound in Canada

Printed on 100 % recycled paper

Douglas and McIntyre acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: How to lose everything / Christa Couture.

Names: Couture, Christa, 1978 author.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2020023966 X | Canadiana (ebook) 2020023983 X | ISBN 9781771622622 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781771622639 ( EPUB )