Praise for For Your Tomorrow

“Murray writes with a clean, accomplished style about the nephew that was no adventurer. . . . It is the call to a cause larger than one's own life that takes Francis from the safety of home and family, to trying to make the world a better place. . . . His aunt's book does justice to his aims and is a fitting tribute to the memory of the 154 other Canadians who've made the same decision.”
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          –Winnipeg Free Press
“A heartbreaking and harrowing account of war, For Your Tomorrow transcends the simplicity of usual conflict narratives. With clear-eyed but emotional engagement, Melanie Murray unearths the courage and savagery that define Afghanistan’s and all wars.”

​          –Kevin Patterson, co-editor of Outside the Wire and author of Consumption 
“. . . Through a sweep of history and myth – both personal and universal – [Murray] gives insight into a tragedy so many Canadian families have experienced. In the end, we come to share her family’s understanding of Jeff’s quest for higher purpose.”

​          –Carol Off, author of The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle, The Ghosts of Medak Pocket, and Bitter Chocolate
“Murray's writing . . . reaches for the language to convey something utterly personal and, in the process, soars into the deeply profound.”
              
          –Starred review, Quill and Quire
“ . . . a lovely, thoughtful and unsentimental memoir of Murray's family and their roots, in Canada and in the military.”

          –"Buzz Book," The Globe and Mail

What Readers are Saying . . .

"Absolutely one of the best books I have ever read. I laughed, cried and lamented in Jeff's story."
​I was so moved by your book. I can't remember reading a book that had me in tears in the first 10 pages, and then several times more. It really has changed my view of those who choose to serve in the military. In fact, I don't think I really understood what "service" meant until now.
With the death of anyone connected to us, we try to give some sense of structure and meaning to their life, to make it into a narrative of some kind. This is particularly true when a child dies, even when the child is an adult; even given the choices the child made. Your elegy on Jeff does that wonderfully. I love the way you tie the events and choices of his life to a larger narrative about meaning, about family, about a culture. You also present the existential issue that we all face and the crisis that leads to maturity and in Jeff's life, a fatal decision to live a specific way, to follow a path that he had been following without really knowing it, up to the point where he chose it. When we look back and create that narrative of the life of a lost one, we can see all the threads coming together, almost as if fate is involved. But you show it as more than that.
I read your book to help me understand why my son volunteered to deploy with TF 3-09. Your book has done that and more. Of all the many books I have read on the situation in Afghanistan, yours has touched me the most.​
​I don't usually write to authors but I was compelled to after reading your book. I started the book yesterday morning and finished it just after 1 am, drying the tears off my face. I felt like I came to know Jeff and your family. I am thankful that you had the courage to share Jeff's journey. I could identify with his thirst for knowledge and his desire to fulfill his higher destiny. It's true that many Canadians have not been supportive of our troops but I want you to know we support them. What Jeff did took courage. 
​I too am the aunt of a young Canadian artillery officer who is desperate to complete the Forward Observation Officer course. Your book has helped me understand something of why he wants it so. ​
​Thank you for your intimate book, thank you for letting us in. My husband has been overseas as well and not a day went by that I did not worry. I worry today for my friends that are serving over there. Death in Afghanistan can happen to any of our loved ones, the Taliban are not particular about whose life ends. Thank you for letting me see behind that veil of shock, grief and coping that starts the minute you see that car arrive in your driveway. As a military spouse I would rather be educated than uneducated about the experience, as painful as it is.
​I have just completed reading Jeff’s story twice – the story is amazing, touching, and appreciated. A dear friend of ours lost her young man to a freak accident while on patrol – our heart has been broken – we lost our daughter to cancer – we know the grief of losing a precious child. 
I went to the bookstore to find a particular book and saw your book about Capt. Francis. I picked it up and read it in a single day. It really got to me. The way you capture the loss, was very... I dunno, something special. I am not great with words but the book was quite something. When I finished at 4 in the morning, I went upstairs and hugged my sleeping 2-year-old son. Thanks for giving me a moment of appreciation for life.
​Thanks for telling Jeff's story in such a powerful way. I have to say – at first I was not going to read it because of my fears around my own feelings and wounds but last weekend – stopping at a Chapters on a trip to Penticton – I decided I had to attempt it – read it in two sittings and am glad I did. Thanks so much to you and your family for sharing your vulnerability and pain – it is a story we need to hear about the Afghan War. I was a Senior Chaplain and I lost 19 young men on my tour. So much death – and as I stood on the ramp I was keenly aware of the lifelong grief and loss that their families were experiencing back home. So thank you  – you gave life to Jeff – you helped me face a part of my return journey that causes me so much pain – I think every day of the "19" as I call them as well as other soldiers I have known... Perhaps others will now be inspired to tell the stories of their fallen family members ... and your efforts have encouraged me to again – think about translating my own journals into something that might at least be circulated to friends and families. 
​Just finished your beautiful book and wanted you to know how impactful it was for me on so many levels. While Canadians may not get as blinded by patriotism as our friends to the south, I think we are just as prone to optimistic enthusiasm when we get involved in conflict. As one of your reviewers noted, your book offers the painful necessity of "bear(ing) witness to the full measure of our soldier's sacrifice." So true.