Truth and Beauty

In her memoir Truth and Beauty (2004), American author Ann Patchett chronicles her long-time friendship with the Irish-American poet and memoirist Lucy Grealy who died of a heroin overdose in 2002. Although Lucy's sister, Suellen, was opposed to Patchett writing the book so soon after the death, she said, "Ann was a far better 'sister' to Lucy than I could ever have been."  The Guardian called Truth and Beauty "a tale of commitment to both joy and tragedy."

Ann and Lucy meet in 1985 while they are both enrolled in the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop in Iowa City. They become roommates in a small but affordable apartment on Governor Street. Referring to their first meeting, Patchett writes, "I do not remember our love unfolding, that we got to know one another and in time became friends. I only remember that she came through the door and it was there, huge and permanent and first." Although they both attended Sarah Lawrence College around the same time, Ann only knew Lucy by reputation. Described as something of a campus mascot, Lucy was known around the school for her tiny stature, oversized sweaters, and facial disfigurement. Part of Lucy's lower jaw was missing from a childhood bout with cancer. At age nine, she was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of jaw cancer that in the 1970s, when it afflicted Lucy, had only a five-percent survival rate. Lucy also only had six teeth, making it difficult to eat.

On Governor Street, Ann and Lucy frequently drink and dance until the late hours of the night. While Ann is quiet and studious by nature, Lucy loves to be the center of attention. Before long, she is as much a celebrity at the Iowa Writers' Workshop as she was at Sarah Lawrence. While Ann is organized and diligent with deadlines, Lucy frequently turns in brilliantly composed work at the last moment.



When their time together at the workshop ends, Lucy goes to Aberdeen, Scotland for a series of facial reconstructive surgeries. Meanwhile, Ann relocates to Nashville, Tennessee where she toils away at her writing while waiting tables at a TGIFriday's restaurant. Both constantly submit their writings for publication and apply to fellowships, but little comes from these efforts. Throughout this difficult time, Ann and Lucy exchange letters, some of which are reprinted in Truth and Beauty. Meanwhile, Lucy's latest surgery is another failure.

Ann catches a break when she is accepted to the prestigious Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. There, she writes her first novel, 1992's The Patron Saint of Liars. Around that same time, Lucy wins the Bunting Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study, where she writes her 1994 memoir, Autobiography of a Face. The book makes Lucy a bona fide literary star. She wins the prestigious Whiting Award for emerging writers and is interviewed on the popular television program, The Charlie Rose Show. While Ann's success thus far cannot compare to Lucy's, she bears no jealousy or resentment.

While Autobiography of a Face brings Lucy fame and a measure of wealth, it does not assuage her loneliness. Unable to eat, kiss, or speak without great difficulty, she finds it difficult to truly connect with any of the new friends and lovers that come into her life in the wake of her literary stardom. In an effort to make her life more bearable, she returns to Scotland for one final surgery, her thirty-ninth in all. It involves inserting a piece of her leg bone into her jaw in order to support tooth implants. Unfortunately, the surgery is a failure, and Lucy becomes addicted to the OxyContin opioid painkillers she is prescribed. This, in turn, leads to heroin addiction. Ann tries her best to convince Lucy to get clean. "I'll leave you over this," Ann tells her. However, nothing works, and Lucy continues to drown in depression and addiction.



Ann finally finds the enormous success that had eluded her in 2001 with the publication of her fourth novel, Bel Canto. The book wins the Orange Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, two of the highest literary honors in the world. Meanwhile, Lucy continues her downward spiral, eventually losing her teaching job, her apartment, and the contract for her next book. On December 18, 2002, Lucy dies of a heroin overdose at the age of thirty-nine. Upon learning of her death, Ann finally realizes Lucy is not invincible.

Truth and Beauty is a powerful memoir about two friends in love with writing and one another.