Meredith May had a difficult childhood, with a mother who was physically present but emotionally absent. She learned early on to fend for herself, and never had to care for anyone else. When she and her wife, Jenn, adopt Edie, a sweet golden retriever puppy with saucer brown eyes and buttery white fur, Edie wins their hearts immediately. But it isn't long after Edie joins the family that the problems begin.
Loving Edie is the story of their family’s trials and tribulations with Edie ... As I am also a pet parent of two very anxious dogs, I recognized my family’s experience in the pages of this book. And with the rise of pet adoption during the pandemic, I suspect that May’s experience may resonate with many readers ... Loving Edie does something that many of my favorite memoirs do: It explores an experience that is more common than you’d think because no one talks about it ... Loving Edie is a delightful lesson in patience, self-reflection and hope.
Loving Edie is an engaging tale that examines what it's like to find out that the sweet puppy you adopted is actually 'reactive' ... It's aggravating to read about the number of times May let Edie off the leash, only to have Edie get spooked and dart off — when will she learn to keep that dog on a leash? But it's also understandable ... Her journey is interesting, and her memoir is a step toward illuminating this increasingly common problem.
May realizes that the hope of Edie ever overcoming her anxiety is an impossible one and that she must learn to accept Edie as she is. A change of scenery drives the lesson home in this heartfelt tale of how one incredibly anxious puppy completed a family.
