Forged through Fire

September 16, 2019
In his gripping debut, surgeon McDonough parses the mental and physical trauma from being badly burned, as well as the death of his mother and younger brother, during a house fire when he was 16 years old. McDonough explains how, on Aug. 3, 1976, he awakened to loud crackling and intense heat; he frantically called to his four younger brothers and mother before plunging into the burning hallway to find them. Firefighters found him barely alive and badly burned next to a door to the garage. In McDonough’s intense account of tragic loss and arduous recovery from burns covering nearly 70% of his body he writes openly of his fears and doubts, and recounts his own near-death experience during a surgical operation that changed his understanding of God and his own purpose. “I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds it,” he writes. “Like the phoenix, my goal in reconstructive surgery has been to return my patients to as close to their original versions as possible, if not better, through the restoration of body, mind, and spirit.” McDonough’s powerful memoir will challenge and inspire readers to persevere through even the worst. Agent: D.J. Snell, Legacy.