Terry Gross

Yeah.

He describes you during this period when he was really badly injured, and it's a miracle he survived.

And then as he slowly started to heal, he describes you as his rock, overseeing his care.

Everything was filtered through you.

You were the one in contact with his medical team, the police, the FBI, security.

It all went through you.

You write about your feelings of helplessness, paranoia, hypervigilance.

What were you experiencing during that period when he saw you as his rock?

To go in such a short amount of time from bride to caregiver, what were some of your fears as he slowly started to heal?

Because I think in situations like this, both people can be really profoundly changed by the experience of trauma.

Did you ever question whether you'd still both be in love with each other or

When the healing was done, you know, to the extent that you can heal when one eye is blinded by the knife and, you know, I think three fingers are numb forever.

And I mean, there was a lot of permanent damage that was done that you don't heal from.

My guest is Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

Her new memoir is called The Flower Bearers.

We'll talk more after a break.

I'm Terry Gross, and this is Fresh Air.

Let's get back to my interview with poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

Her new memoir, The Flower Bearers, is in part about the day she married Salman Rushdie in September 2021.

It had a joyous start and a horrible ending when she found out her best friend, Aisha, had suddenly died.