Karie Fugett dropped out of high school at 17. At 20, her Marine husband was wounded at war, and she became a caregiver. At 24, she became a military widow. Today, Karie is an American author who holds a BA in creative writing from the University of South Alabama and an MFA in creative nonfiction from Oregon State University. Her debut memoir, Alive Day, is about an oft-overlooked reality of war: the experience of the many thousands of caregivers and spouses—mostly women, mostly young, mostly poor—whose lives have been shattered by battles fought against enemies abroad and against addiction at home.

Alive Day is a May 2025 Book of the Month Club Pick!

A searing, unflinchingly intimate memoir about one young couple caught up in the machinery of America’s military system, learning to live and love through war and all that comes after.

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Praise for ALIVE DAY

Astonishing. Both a love story and a gripping account of the cost of war from the unique perspective of a military widow, Alive Day serves as a crucial reminder of the aftermath of war and the kids left to clean up the mess.

— Stephanie Land, NYT bestselling author of Maid and Class

Gutsy, tightly written, emotionally powerful without an ounce of cheap sentiment.

— Phil Klay, National Book Award winning author of Redeployment

The only thing worse than war is waiting for someone you love to return from it. Karie Fugett’s Alive Day is as true a war story as any I’ve read. Like war itself, it’ll break your heart.

— Elliot Ackerman, author of Dark at the Crossing and Green on Blue

Shimmering with heart and humanity on every page, Alive Day feels like a book Karie Fugett had to write. We owe it to her, to ourselves, and to every young person the forever wars threw into the deep end of caregiving and loss to bear witness to her story and to never forget it. I know I couldn’t if I tried. There are scenes from this powerful memoir that will forever be seared into my mind.

—Simone Gorrindo, author of The Wives

In a society too often numb and indifferent and entirely too insistent on forgetting, Alive Day is an essential, urgent reminder of the cost of war and a savage, gritty, and romantic monument to those who pay it. Karie Fugett’s memoir is deeply felt and disturbingly funny. I hope it pisses you off. We should be pissed off.

—Lauren Hough, author of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing

“Karie Fugett did not fight in a war. And yet her voice sings with deliberate, horrific, powerful, beautiful knowing about war and the human toll it demands. Fugett’s words shine humanity on those of us who volunteered before we understood the actual cost, all while she stands before us an open wound, not begging for aid but demanding we bear witness to the grotesque, the intimate, the absurd, the tender, without averting our eyes. A small penance for our forever sin.”

— Matt Young, author of Eat the Apple and End of Active Service

The cost of war goes far beyond the dollars spent and the lives lost in active duty. What about the repercussions for countless wounded service members, their caregivers, and their families? In her debut memoir, Karie Fugett illuminates that reality in a riveting story of love, loss, and perseverance, one that will change the way you think about sacrifice. Alive Day is necessary reading for every American.

— Erin Khar, author of Strung Out

Karie Fugett’s private war only began after her husband came back from Iraq. He was horribly wounded both mentally and physically, ultimately dying from an opioid overdose. This searing memoir depicts the suffering of men like him and of those who love them, all with the darkest humor and the most compelling fury.

— Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dime