The Road to Yesterday – A Memoir by Maryellen Donovan

The Road to Yesterday – A Memoir by Maryellen Donovan

After almost 24 years of losing my husband on 9/11, I was finally inspired to write my memoir because for years I was told by family and friends that I had a remarkable story to share with others. After losing Steve in such a monumental tragedy, my life was completely torn apart, leaving me to raise two young sons alone. I questioned, too many times to count, if I honestly had the will and strength to go on. I wrote my story with a voice that simultaneously haunts me from the depths of despair and rises wildly with hope, love, gratitude, and resilience.

The Road to Yesterday is an honest and very raw look into what it means to be human in this crazy world.  It is about finding the will to survive, and then going even further and finding the power to thrive. My hope is whatever one’s personal journey or challenges one might be facing, that I may give just a little light and encouragement in one’s darkest hours. Through my journey, I believe from my core, that those we lose are physically gone but are forever ever with us, guiding and protecting us. Today is a gift worth living.

The book title was chosen after a love song that my husband wrote for me and was produced in Nashville, just two months before 9/11.  After reading the words, which are printed on the first page of my book, I believe in my heart that Steve had some deep intuition that he would be leaving me.  

My family members are extremely proud of the book that I wrote and it is because of their support and encouragement that I chose to write it.

At this time, I have no further plans to write anything else. I am taking this time now to sit back and wait for the publication date on 9/9/25 and share my beautiful and tragic love story with others. I have already shared my Advanced Reader Copy with a few select people and the feedback has been extremely powerful. A few comments have been “your book is beautifully written and brought me to tears a number of times and in the end had made me feel proud to call you my friend.” “I’m halfway through your memoir and loving it. I am beyond proud of you for putting your story out there and being so vulnerable. It is extremely inspiring.” “Your story is truly a beautiful and heart wrenching story. I laughed and cried my eyes out.”

# # #

THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY

For readers who found comfort in Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, a 9/11 widow’s memoir of rediscovering joy and finding love again after the violent loss of her husband.

One sunny Tuesday morning, Maryellen Donovan’s beloved husband, Steve Cherry, lost his life in the 9/11 attacks—rocking her to her core, and changing her family forever.

Maryellen’s life and love with Steve was all she could have hoped for; in the wake of his death, she was inconsolable. But ultimately, she had no choice but to be strong for her two young sons—and even when deep in the grip of hopeless despair, she found solace in her deep faith and belief that, with the support of friends and family, she would eventually find love and happiness once again. Her route to her happy ending proved long and winding and full of obstacles—cancer, family conflict, even more loss—but she always found a way forward, no matter the setbacks she encountered.

An inspirational story that will provide hope to anyone who’s experienced unfathomable loss and loneliness, The Road to Yesterday is a testament to the idea that there is always a path to love and joy—if only you’re determined enough to keep yourself open to it.

BUY HERE

—

Maryellen Donovan was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. The youngest of four children and the mother of two sons, family is everything to her. Maryellen lives with her husband, Michael, in Hailey, Idaho—a magical valley she considers to be her true home sweet home.

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing