The Bear's Embrace

On a sunny fall day in 1983, Patricia Van Tighem and her husband, Trevor Janz, were brutally attacked by a bear while hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Janz was severely hurt, but Van Tighem suffered even more serious, disfiguring injuries, and that she survived was a miracle.

A gifted writer, Van Tighem crafted a vivid and startling account of the attack. But her recovery was just as disturbing. Her numerous reconstructive surgeries were painful; her facial disfigurement, including the loss of an eye, isolated her; and the nightmares that haunted her carried their own psychological burden.

The Bear's Embrace garnered much praise when it was first published, in 2000. With honesty and eloquence, the book tells of the unpredictability of life, of bravery, terror, rage, and love, of what it means to look and feel different in a culture that values perfection. Deeply moving and often astonishing, The Bear's Embrace is an inspiring story of human perseverance and self-knowledge.

Tragically, Van Tighem could no longer live with her pain and ended her life in 2005. In this new edition, her sister, Margaret Van Tighem, writes an affecting afterword remembering Patricia and her spirit and strength.

Patricia Van Tighem was born in Calgary, Alberta, where she began writing in her teens. Winner of a Canada Permanent Trust short-story competition, she was awarded a scholarship to the creative writing program at the Banff School of Fine Arts under the tutelage of the late W.O. Mitchell. Van Tighem trained as a nurse at Mount Royal College and the University of Victoria. Until her death in December 2005, she lived with her family in a small town in the mountains of British Columbia.