Suicide Books

Book SynopsisLife After a Partner''s Suicide Attempt is the first publication to document in depth the lived experiences of the partners of individuals who have attempted to take their own lives. Although no one has died, the ramifications are, nonetheless, life-changing and permanent. Research in suicidology has paid virtually no attention to these partners, other than to explore their role as caregiver. Based on a series of sensitively conducted interviews, Dr. McGivern proposes a psychotherapeutic pathway towards recovery through exploration of personal trauma, relationship injury, reactivation of adverse childhood experiences, ambiguous loss, boundary ambiguity, as well as post-traumatic growth. He highlights implications for psychotherapy training and research and makes recommendations for practice and policy.Written with both the general reader and practitioners in mind, the author's goal is to share the extensive insights he has gained through his research and in doing so, to give voice to partners worldwide who silently endure the aftermath of their loved one's suicide attempt.

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Book Synopsis*** Sunday Times Bestseller *** ''Fascinating. A wise and compassionate book full of insight and understanding that would help anyone experiencing grief, or those surrounding them'' Cathy Rentzenbrink''A wonderfully important and transforming book - lucid, consoling and wise'' William Boyd____________________________________________________________________Grief Works is a compassionate guide that will inform and engage anyone who is grieving, from the ''expected'' death of a parent to the sudden unexpected death of a small child, and provide clear advice for those seeking to comfort the bereaved.Julia Samuel guides you gently through her eight practical pillars of strength - that include the power of saying ''no'' to the structure and building of good new habits - to support you and help you to gradually rebuild your life in the face of grief: With personal real-life stories of loss, and brilliantly accessible and practical advice, Grief Works will be passed down through generations as the definitive guide for anyone who has lost a loved one, and will revolutionise the way we talk about life, loss and death.Trade ReviewA profoundly moving book by an extraordinary storyteller - Julia Samuel describes her patients' stories of loss with great sensitivity and fascinating psychological insight. Essential for anyone who has ever experienced grief, or wanted to comfort a bereaved friend -- Helen Fielding, bestselling author of 'Bridget Jones' Diary'Fascinating. A wise and compassionate book full of insight and understanding that would help anyone experiencing grief, or those surrounding them. I am so glad this book exists. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of 'The Last Act of Love'What an amazing book! I absolutely LOVE it. Intelligent, empathetic, modest, funny, and learned - it's an amazing feat. -- Rabbi Julia NeubergerA wonderfully important and transforming book - lucid, consoling and wise. -- William Boyd, bestselling author of 'Sweet Caress'Julia Samuel's wise, compassionate voice speaks out on every page of this exceptionally moving book offering courage and hope: emotions that are sometimes inaudible and and unattainable to those who grieve. Her exceptional understanding of the way human beings think/love/mourn makes Grief Works an invaluable guide to understanding the complex emotions around death. Through the inspirational stories of those many people she has helped, both the dying and the surviving, Julia Samuel dissipates fear and demonstrates the extraordinary resilience of humankind. -- Juliet Nicolson, author of 'A House Full of Daughters'The stories of [Julia's] clients are set out with such eloquence, sensitivity and insight and I learned something from each one of them. I liked her honesty about how difficult it can be for a therapist to find a way into communication with someone who is in the throes of grief, and how much the therapist can doubt herself. And the way she teases out the slow, arduous process of recovery is truly heartening. I don't often read a book which offers such direct and generous support. -- Helen DunmoreThe book will allow us to stop feeling awkward and uncertain about death - and why we should talk honestly about grief * Guardian *A moving guide to dealing with grief - a rigorous, researched but above all readable study of how to deal with death, dying and grieving. The book is self-help at its most philosophical, practical and profound... Anyone who has every struggled with the obscure, muddled, vulnerable, uncertain, fearful, elemental process of bereavement, or facing their own mortality, should find this book of help -- Helen Davies * Sunday Times *This invaluable guide gets to the heart of grief, showing how a simple act like making a meal for someone who is bereaved, or sending a card with memories of the deceased, can make all the difference * Sunday Express S Magazine *Psychotherapist Julia Samuel's case studies provide vital and compelling insights into bereavement (...) fascinating and affecting * Observer *If a single book could help you to be kinder and more compassionate, could expand and deepen your understanding of other people (and possibly yourself) and make you less afraid of dying in the process, you would surely be eager to acquire it at once. Well look no further, for Grief Works is that book * Spectator *Brilliant -- Mariella FrostrupSamuel turns out to be a remarkable writer (...) what is impressive is that such harrowing material should result in such a readable book * The Oldie *A very helpful book * The Lady *A brilliantly insightful look at the complexities of bereavement * Daily Mail Ireland *

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in NonfictionJoanne Vannicola grew up in a violent home with a physically abusive father and a mother who had no sexual boundaries.After being pressured to leave home at fourteen, and after fifteen years of estrangement, Joanne learns that her mother is dying. Compelled to reconnect, she visits with her, unearthing a trove of devastating secrets.Joanne relates her journey from child performer to Emmy Awardwinning actor, from hiding in the closet to embracing her own sexuality, from conflicted daughter and sibling to independent woman. All We Knew But Couldn't Say is a testament to survival, love, and the belief that it is possible to love the broken, and to love fully, even with a broken heart.Trade ReviewWhat skill and mastery Vannicola employs, particularly in the face of her most brutal moments, which others may not have survived...Vannicola does this work with grace, skill and grit, which makes this novel truly one of a time when it is most needed. * Lambda Literary *A story fit for this time and the landscape of our culture. Incredibly raw, moving, and honest. Joanne has survived so much and come out triumphant. A book worth reading. * Denys Arcand, Oscar-winning filmmaker *Joanne Vannicola weaves a compelling narrative about hardship, survival, and resilience that reminds all of us about the enduring importance of forgiveness, family acceptance, and love. * Sarah Kate Ellis, President & CEO, GLAAD *What you need to know about All We Knew But Couldn’t Say is how brilliantly Joanne Vannicola says what couldn’t be said. She writes about mayhem and emotional violence with such precision that it’s like becoming mesmerized by a tornado moving directly towards you. Becoming an actor may have been Joanne Vannicola’s first step in avoiding the path of destructive forces heading her way, but it’s her writing that feels like a storm contained. This is a story you won’t soon forget. * David Layton, author and Diaspora Dialogues mentor *I am completely gutted by reading Joanne's beautifully penned heart-wrenching memoir. When every important relationship that shapes us is broken and lacking in nurturing love, it stands as a testament to the power of becoming whole. Raw, unflinching, brave and important, it makes me grateful to know that a voice with this power and honesty is sharing her truth with us all. * Cynthia Dale, actor *Jo Vannicola’s memoir is shocking, upsetting and occasionally graphic, yet what sets it apart from other similar accounts is an underlying sense of optimism. Out of despair there has emerged a beautifully written account, where the author has not only come through the tribulations of her early life, but become a leading voice for the overlooked and the marginalized. I cannot recommend it enough. * Linda Riley, Publisher, DIVA Magazine *This frank, sometimes harrowing, always inspiring memoir should be mandatory reading for all — for those afraid of being true to themselves or anyone who needs a hero that demonstrates what personal courage and determination can do. * Colin Mochrie, actor and comedian *Stark. Unflinchingly honest and filled with a type of determination that is seen in LGBTQ people who want more than just survival. * Roland Emmerich, Director, Producer *In this moving memoir, Joanne Vannicola writes herself — and so many of us who have experienced oppression and trauma —onto the page. As a writer, I enjoyed her beautiful, well-paced and evocative storytelling. As a therapist and survivor, I found myself pausing and nodding as she articulated so well her deep and layered understandings of trauma and marginalization. Throughout, I found myself rooting for and cheering on the young girl, actor, activist, and woman of this story. * Farzana Doctor, author of Six Metres of Pavement *Joanne writes the way she lives, with heart and hope and honesty. A must read. * Helen Shaver, actor and director *The book has a cinematic feel to it...All We Knew But Couldn’t Say is a story about someone figuring out their own identity and claiming it, pushing past layers of abuse, confusion and cultural resistance to define themselves as non-binary long before there was a word for it. * NOW Magazine *Table of ContentsPart One: Walking Through GlassPart Two: BrokenPart Three: What I KnewPart Four: The Stories Our Bodies Tell

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Book SynopsisWriting from his own experience as a pastor who has struggled with depression, anxiety and O.C.D., Paul Ritchie addresses some of the big questions that Christians with mental illnesses and those around them might ask. Although he deals frankly with the reality of mental illness in a fallen world, he shows how the gospel is good news for those suffering. He applies the truth of the gospel, assuring readers that they can take God at his word, even when their brain tells them to doubt. His final chapter also gives helpful advice for those who want to help friends or family who are depressed or anxious.Trade ReviewWhat a superb book. I so benefited from reading it. -- John Samuel (Pastor, Duke Street Church, Richmond, London)Honest, human and heart–felt, every page is borne of Paul’s own walk through the darkness. This is not a handbook of plastic solutions, but a companion to walking through the mess more closely with Jesus and in light of his grace. Immensely helpful and moving; essential reading for every believer. -- Mark Ellis (Pastor of Grace Church, Dundee, Scotland)There are books addressing depression from a clinical, personal or spiritual perspective. What sets this one apart is the fact that it addresses the issue from all three perspectives. You will be challenged by Paul’s honesty, his empathy for others and his ceaseless focus on the Gospel. In fact, you will never think about the issue the same way again. -- David Blevin (Sky News)This book is good! It feels very real – its credibility stems especially from the fact that its author has experienced being in this place himself. And it’s well written! A resource pastors can do well to have accessible on their shelves for when it’s needed! -- Pete Lowman (Former coordinator of Russian student CU movement )Written with grace, wisdom, and from personal experience, the book will carefully and gently help readers navigate some difficult pastoral issues relating to mental health. -- Peter Orr (Lecturer in New Testament, Moore Theological College, Sydney)Paul Ritchie writes with a pastor’s heart for Christians struggling with depression and anxiety – and for friends and relatives who walk alongside them. The pages are full of stories and a practical wisdom, rooted in the Bible, that speak into the emotional turmoil and troubling questions that many believers wrestle with (too often on their own). -- Patrick Mitchel (Senior Lecturer in Theology, Irish Bible Institute and author of ‘The Message of Love’)… deals with many of the misconceptions and misunderstandings that exist around these issues. The prayers at the end of each chapter that are based on the Psalms are so helpful. The overriding message of this book is that you can know God, the true God, as he has revealed himself in the Scriptures in whatever you are facing in life, and know his love and care. -- Joan Singleton (Lecturer in Pastoral Care, Irish Bible Institute, Dublin, Ireland)

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Book SynopsisCollette Wolfe was on holidays in Lanzarote with her husband Anthony when they got the call that all parents most dread. Their beloved daughter Leanne had died, having taken her own life. On the morning of Leanne's funeral, her diaries were uncovered by her sister, and the family awakened to a nightmare within the nightmare: to witness in written form the devastation of years of unrelenting bullying by a group of Leanne's peers, and to have been powerless to prevent it. There began a journey that brought Collette to the very edge of existence, as she contemplated taking her own life to end months of unbearable pain and suffering. Then, at her darkest moment, everything changed, and a new beginning opened up where she never imagined it was possible, one in which she would confront her own demons as a survivor of child abuse and rape, and ultimately, through the love of God, find hope and joy beyond measure. Here, for the first time, she tells her story - interwoven with extracts from Leanne's diaries - to create an unforgettable book that will be cherished by anyone who has known darkness, and seeks hope.

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Book SynopsisA long-distance call while on holidays brought news of the most devastating kind for Collette Wolfe and her husband Anthony. Their daughter Leanne had died, having taken her own life. Soon, diaries were uncovered sharing her experience of horrific bullying in the years leading up to her death.In the months that followed, Collette battled crippling grief and guilt for not having know the extent of her daughter's suffering. Beset by hopelessness, as demons from her own childhood resurfaced, she faced her darkest hour. Then something remarkable happened.If I Could Hold You Again is a story of tragedy and redemption and of finding a way to face the future with courage, love, and a mission to help others.

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2023 Minnesota Book AwardA sublimely elegant, fractured reckoning with the legacy and inheritance of suicide in one American family.In 2009, Juliet Patterson was recovering from a serious car accident when she learned her father had died by suicide. His death was part of a disturbing pattern in her family. Her father’s father had taken his own life; so had her mother’s. Over the weeks and months that followed, grieving and in physical pain, Patterson kept returning to one question: Why? Why had her family lost so many men, so many fathers, and what lay beneath the silence that had taken hold?In three graceful movements, Patterson explores these questions. In the winter of her father’s death, she struggles to make sense of the loss—sifting through the few belongings he left behind, looking to signs and symbols for meaning. As the spring thaw comes, she and her mother depart Minnesota for her father’s burial in her parents’ hometown of Pittsburg, Kansas. A once-prosperous town of promise and of violence, against people and the land, Pittsburg is now literally undermined by abandoned claims and sinkholes. There, Patterson carefully gathers evidence and radically imagines the final days of the grandfathers—one a fiery pro-labor politician, the other a melancholy businessman—she never knew. And finally, she returns to her father: to the haunting subjects of goodbyes, of loss, and of how to break the cycle.A stunning elegy that vividly enacts Emily Dickinson’s dictum to “tell it slant,” Sinkhole richly layers personal, familial, political, and environmental histories to provide not answers but essential, heartbreaking truth.Trade Review“Mixing autobiography, academic psychology, and an ecological history of Kansas, Patterson, a poet, examines the suicides in her family, beginning with her father’s.”—The New Yorker“A soulful odyssey . . . [Patterson’s] bewilderment and edge-of-the-sinkhole grief is palpable . . . Though the memoir doesn’t solve the riddle of suicide or offer a neat narrative arc, it does show the value of remembering and the importance of paying attention to, for example, a ‘rack of suits and ties,’ . . . or a Lite Brite message left glowing in the dark after her father left for a business trip that said: ‘Be good. I love you. See you soon.’”—Minneapolis Star Tribune“Patterson marvels at the pervasiveness of some of her family members’, on both her paternal and maternal sides, dying by suicide . . . Tying together environmental, political, and historical facts in her family tree, the author imagines what it means to take one’s life and shares what it’s like to be the one left behind. As fascinating as it is upsetting, Patterson has intersected the past and future, imagining the silent crisis happening among the men in her family, as well as the persistent fear of her own potential demise through self-harm, all while considering genetics, societal pressures, and prescribed antidepressants. The end result is an elegantly tragic work of research, history, and creative nonfiction that seeks answers, closure, and ultimate peace.”—Library Journal, starred review“A spare, sensitive evocation of Patterson’s experience of grief, paired with an insightful work of family and regional history . . . The poet’s sensibility is evident in these pages, as she excavates her own raw emotions alongside passages of clear-eyed journalism and creative nonfiction. Sinkhole is a painfully honest and sobering work that may provide insight and comfort to those facing a similar tragedy.’”—Shelf Awareness“After her father took his own life in 2009 at age 77, Patterson delved into her family’s legacy of suicide—the result is a stirring look at how history, environment, and cultural pressures all played a role . . . Patterson’s lyrical and discerning treatment of a global ‘psychological crisis’ will keep readers transfixed.”—Publishers Weekly“A pensive memoir about mental illness, suicide, and the quest to uncover often hidden family secrets . . . Apart from the personal, [Patterson] weaves in results from her research in thanatology and suicide, including the provocative thought from psychologist Edwin Shneidman that ‘the person who commits suicide puts his psychological skeleton in the survivor’s emotional closet.’ A searching, often elegant meditation on loneliness, pain, and redemption.”—Kirkus Reviews"Along with the environmental history braided throughout, Sinkhole offers a master class in how extensive research can add depth and breadth to personal writing."—The Washington Independent Review of Books“Patterson’s poetic sensibility informs her prose as she weaves together ideas about family and research about land in a lyrical way.”—Book Pages “Sinkhole is a literary triumph. Juliet Patterson brings us to a brave, smart, and compassionate understanding of suicide. Anyone who has lost someone to suicide knows the haunting that follows. You are buried beneath an avalanche of questions that can never be answered. But in Patterson’s adept hands, we not only enter ‘the natural history of suicide,’ offering insights to an erosional state of mind, we are taken into societal patterns that foster an atmosphere where suicide becomes the end point of isolation and despair. The somber connections Patterson makes between her father’s death by suicide and the family legacy that precedes his death, tied to a history of coal mining, exposes the fact that our health and the health of the planet cannot be separated. The violence we inflict on ourselves is a mirror of the violence we inflict on land. Juliet Patterson is a soaring writer who has chosen to not look away. We are the beneficiaries of her gaze. There is poetry in this elegiac book, with an uncommon beauty and stillness radiating between each sentence. Sinkhole resurrects our dead from the sorrow and silences surrounding suicide and gives voice to the whys of their voiceless acts.”—Terry Tempest Williams, author of Erosion “In confronting her family’s dark legacy of suicide, Juliet Patterson does far more than plumb the depths of human despair. Sinkhole is a master class in the way truth can pry open the deepest cellar, how language can calm a raw, ragged soul. To read this unflinching look at darkness is to find a way toward the light. After so much darkness, so much light!”—Margaret Renkl, author of Late Migrations“Juliet Patterson writes with a poet’s precision and a poet’s heart too about that most devastating moment, the loss of a parent. Devastating twice over by the terms and manner in which he died. Survivors are left to ask ‘Why?’ and normally one says there is no answer to this question. But Patterson keeps asking. In this text that has the feel of a police procedural but the emotional weight of a desperation to know, Patterson delves into familial and social history and brings us, the readers, along on a perilous journey. By the end we realize we each too might be—physically, socially, psychologically, spiritually, medically, environmentally—in the midst of life but on the lip of death. As a parent, a wife, a poet, a daughter, a human, Juliet Patterson makes the most courageous foray yet into answering that last unanswerable question: ‘Why?’”—Kazim Ali, author of Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water“With deft fingers, Juliet Patterson digs below the surface of inherited illness, generational trauma, and societal notions of grief. Like its namesake, Sinkhole explores what lurks beneath seemingly stable ground. After the suicide of Patterson’s father, she is driven to investigate his death. What’s uncovered are multiple lifetimes of repressed emotion and internalized perceptions of failure. With two successive generations of patriarchs committing suicide Patterson reckons with what’s a coincidence, and what’s a pattern. In thoughtfully rendered passages she delves into creative nonfiction, imagining what those final hours were for her father and grandfather— what thoughts were on their minds, or weren’t. Sinkholes can be exacerbated by reckless natural resource mining, and Patterson ties a delicate net lulling the reader into a conversation between the two. If toxic lead levels can be discovered as a hidden byproduct of rampant capitalist practices— what other concealed ailments can be tied to a lack of respect for nature? What feelings of failure can epigenetically alter seemingly placid inner worlds generations later? Gracefully and languidly, Patterson illuminates what typically is seen as a void, and asks the reader to ponder: how do our outer landscapes reflect our inner worlds?”— Mathuson Anthony, Book Club Bookstore, New York, NY “When I started this lyrical exploration of suicide, inheritance, and place by lesbian poet Juliet Patterson, I had no idea that my home state would play such a central role. As it turns out, both of Patterson’s parents grew up in the former mining town of Pittsburg, KS, now ravaged by sinkholes. In an obsessive unearthing of family history spurred by grief for her father, Patterson investigates the lives and suicides of three family members: her father, and each of her parents’ fathers. As Patterson delicately processes her own experiences as a suicide survivor, she opens up a dialogue for readers—we can talk about suicide, and we should talk about suicide. Sinkhole is a beautiful, fascinating read.”—Mary Wahlmeier, Raven Book Store Lawrence, KS “The author takes us on her journey to learn the unknowable, to understand what is not understandable, in an effort to break the patterns of the past - escape a metaphorical sinkhole. Along the way you'll learn about the history of a region and the violence wreaked against its people and environment that persists today - literal sinkholes.”— Alana Haley, Schuler Books, Grand Rapids, MI “Great storytelling; Patterson has a soothing and inviting voice even while discussing the hardest parts of her father's suicide. A lovely blend of family history and grief.”— Lauren Nopenz Fairley, Curious Iguana, Frederick, MD “I had to wait to read to read this book, because in the last two years there has been so much loss both personally and collectively. I love Juliet's straight forward writing and research; I think it's something that we all want to be able to do. We're all on a journey and Juliet's book has helped me breath once more.”— Jayne Rowsam, Mystery to Me, Madison, WI Praise for Juliet Patterson “Juliet Patterson’s poems are entirely themselves; they use time and the eye and tongue—all the body, as thought and insight, inside and outside history.”—Jean Valentine “Patterson’s work is rich with compression, power, and a precision I’d like to steal for myself.”—Joni Tevis, Orion “Spare, pastoral, intimate, and probing, [Patterson’s] musically exacting poems offer arresting insights. . . . They question, invent, refer, divert, take flying risks. They are fluid, considered, dignified. They celebrate the human eye, mind, and tongue.”—Olga Broumas “Thrilling . . . [Patterson’s] poetic realm has been that of the precise image . . . placed in short and striking lines. Through these images, she has revealed the path of the mind, often playfully.”—DIAGRAM “[Patterson’s] poems are driven by a voice that I think would define the world clearly and unequivocally if it were possible. Instead, the poet is forced (like most of us) to offer up images, the correspondences that connect them, and the humanity behind what life leaves for us. . . . Creating a world where there are no easy answers, Patterson asks for active reading.”—Painted Bride Quarterly “In Patterson’s vision, nature rarely gives without taking some small token in return. . . . She laments the looming destruction of nature even as that destruction portends the creation of something new.”—Publishers Weekly “Direct and tough, lush and erect . . . [Patterson] will bring you tears, bend your branch, twist your mind.”—Twin Cities Daily Planet “There is a kind of communion . . . between what is said and what is not said, that reminds the reader of walking through the very December fields that Patterson describes, noting the dry, brittle landscape and yet—and also—the spry and determined life that persists within it. . . . [Patterson’s] quiet poems . . . are more like finely chiseled ice sculptures than gleaming, luxurious gems. But the truth they express is no less radiant—in fact, it may be even more so, borne as it is out of a season of less rather than plenty.”—Shannon Gibney “Patterson’s ear is at once impeccable and exciting. . . . We understand the poet’s vision and language as a form of querying, a kind of existential question conditioned by existence’s constant opposite, nonexistence.”—Ryo Yamaguchi

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Book SynopsisAs seen on CNN Faced with a shattering loss, a young widow searches for answers, acceptance, and family resilience.After taking her sons on a hike with the family dog one beautiful fall afternoon, Charlotte returned home to find a policewoman, a policeman, and a priest in her driveway—there to deliver the news of her husband’s suicide. Charlotte knew her husband had been stressed about work, but she had no idea he was suicidal. She thought he had stayed home to take a nap. As a young widow, Charlotte cried, cursed, meditated, medicated, downward-dogged, and ran as a way to make sense of her husband’s suicide. As the mother of two bereft sons, she summoned her inner strength and clarity in order to provide steady guidance for them to navigate their own ways through the ensuing months and years. Her story offers intimate moments, powerful lessons, as well as practical ways through which not only suicide survivors but any of us experiencing loss can move forward to live lives of joy and purpose.

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Book Synopsis"A memoir wrapped in an elegy... [that] maps a strangely stunning life... [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion - for William, for everyone. This Isn't Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There's deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness - a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity." - Washington Post"Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn't Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty." - Tayari Jones, author of An American MarriageIf we're lucky, we all encounter at least one person whose life elevates and inspires our own. For Daniel Wallace, that was his long-time friend and brother-in-law, William Nealy. Seemingly perfect, impossibly cool, William was James Dean, Clint Eastwood, and MacGyver all rolled into one: an acclaimed outdoorsman, a famous cartoonist, an accomplished author, a master of all he undertook. William was the ideal that Daniel sought to emulate, and the person who gave him the courage to become a writer.But when William took his own life at age forty eight, Daniel's heartbreak led him to commit a grievous act of his own, a betrayal that took him down a path into the tortured recesses of William's past. Eventually a new picture emerged of a man with too many secrets and too much shame to bear.With his first memoir, acclaimed writer Daniel Wallace delivers a stunning book that is as innovative and emotionally resonant as his novels. Part love story, part true crime, part a desperate search for the self, This Isn't Going to End Well tells an intimate and moving story of what happens when we realize our heroes are human.Trade Review“A revelatory and reflective tale about how males perceive others and how they present themselves. More than anything, I felt compassion for their vulnerability and fear, and made me realize perhaps we are not so different, men and women, after all.”—Sandra Cisneros, author of Martita, I Remember YouNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South MagazineNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, Goodreads, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South MagazineNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, Goodreads, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South Magazine, Greenville JournalNamed a Most Anticipated / Best of Book of 2023 by Garden Gun, Goodreads, BookPage, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deep South Magazine, Greenville Journal“In This Will Not End Well you will find the expected Daniel Wallace clarity, humor, and precision. But you will not find fiction. This is a true story about Daniel himself and his wild-man mentor and relative, William Nealy. Few writers can so seamlessly thread together love, loss, admiration, fear, pain, and hope. And this narrative is not traditional memoir-fare. It moves magically—unlike any traditional genre you’ve ever read. At times I experienced that thrill-feeling of a roller coaster dropping away from beneath me. This book is a rare gem gift from one of our very best writers.”—Clyde Edgerton, author of Raney“Daniel Wallace has written a ghost story – not the kind you have read before. It is a haunting story about a person he loved and, at times, loathed, who influenced the author’s life in ways never to be fully known or seen – a shimmering. Wallace -- whose prose is the truest kind, brave and somewhere between sharp-edged facts and magic -- chooses to “get in the cage with the tiger”, in this case, his brother-in-law William Nealy. Nealy is the famed cartoonist, writer, and whitewater adventurer who lived to defy death daily, until he didn’t. Wallace takes us to the edge of what scares us, death by suicide, and miraculously (no, skillfully) writes a book on grace. This brilliantly layered book is about what calls us to write, create, dance and even destroy those we love. What began as Daniel Wallace’s story became my story, too – the writer who lives “in that place between experience and understanding” and is compelled to touch bone regardless of the pain. I love this book. This Isn’t Going to End Well ended too soon -- and like all great ghost stories I want to read it again.”—Terry Tempest Williams, author of Erosion – Essays of Undoing“In This Isn't Going to End Well, you will find the expected Daniel Wallace clarity, humor, and precision. But you will not find fiction. This is a true story about Daniel himself and his wild-man mentor and relative, William Nealy. Few writers can so seamlessly thread together love, loss, admiration, fear, pain, and hope. And this narrative is not traditional memoir-fare. It moves magically—unlike any traditional genre you’ve ever read. At times I experienced that thrill-feeling of a roller coaster dropping away from beneath me. This book is a rare gem gift from one of our very best writers.”—Clyde Edgerton, author of Raney?“Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn’t Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty.”—Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage“Daniel Wallace has, once again, shown himself to be an exquisite storyteller. Like bourbon, this book goes down hot and strong but finishes with a salving sweetness which can only be called a blessing. A love story and a ghost story a once, This Isn’t Going to End Well straddles the line between present and past, truth and beauty.”—Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage“A bold and compassionate exploration of male friendship and the devastating impact of suicide.”—Kirkus Reviews“Wallace’s storytelling skill captures the vibrant personality Nealy showed the world, and his emotional candor the tragedy of a good man ‘who was toxic only to himself.’”—Booklist“A heart-cracking exploration of the ways we construct ourselves, and how, despite any facade, no matter how bold, it can all come tumbling apart.”—Garden Gun“A memoir wrapped in an elegy… [that] maps a strangely stunning life… [Wallace] imbues this chronicle with tremendous compassion — for William, for everyone. This Isn’t Going to End Well gives off the particular radiance of a life lived hard, whatever else: as such, a brand of American bildungsroman. There’s deep satisfaction to its arc, despite its inherent sadness — a wondrous glimpse of the melding, in human doings, of fate, character and serendipity.”—Washington Post“This Isn't Going to End Well outlines the complicated, tender truth about one mythical man.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution“This Isn't Going to End Well outlines the complicated, tender truth about one mythical man.”—BookPage“A eulogy, a cautionary tale, a love letter and a sob of anger.”—New York Times Book Review“The exceptional first memoir from Big Fish author Daniel Wallace is loving, honest and haunting… [with] honed prose and hypnotic pacing.”—BookPage"Exceptional… simultaneously sharp-edged and loving, honest and painfully haunting."—BookPage“In exploring his own particularly complicated grief, Wallace reveals his coming of age as a writer, the tragic yet inspiring life of his sister Holly, and a cast of larger-than-life characters as beguiling as any of his fictional inventions… Moving and unforgettable.”—Chapter16“Novelist Wallace (Big Fish) pays loving tribute to his late brother-in-law, William Nealy, in this deeply felt memoir… Wallace’s elegiac narrative shimmers with deep admiration for a man who always played by his own rules and stood by the people he loved. This will entrance readers from the first page.”—Publishers Weekly“‘Unflinching’ is a word publishers like to use to describe memoirs. This Isn’t Going to End Well deserves the description as Mr. Wallace grapples with the past. It sounds like a heavy read, but it’s almost deceptively easy… Masterly.”—Wall Street Journal"Heartbreaking and real."—Garden Gun, "The Best New Books for Southerners in 2023"“Gripping… A story about the difference between the person we present to the world and the person we really are. It’s the gap between those two versions of ourselves that Wallace mines in this warts-and-all love letter to male friendship.”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution“Gracefully written (Wallace is incapable of writing an ugly sentence)… [Wallace] has done a heroic job here of trying to understand what we finally cannot know.”—Alabama Public Radio / Don Noble's Book Reviews“Piercingly sad, but beautiful.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune“A tribute, a memoir and a mystery... Heartbreaking and funny.”—WUNC (North Carolina Public Radio)“[Wallace] crafts a compelling narrative that pulls the reader headlong into a story whose energy never wanes. He’s thoughtful and thought-provoking... and he writes with courage and candor… [This Isn’t Going to End Well] is a memoir borne of intense experience and introspection, which is the only available panacea for what troubles us.”—PineStraw Magazine“[Daniel Wallace] writes like no other Southern writer I’ve ever read… This Isn’t Going to End Well is deeply moving, as any reader of Wallace’s fiction would expect.”—Salvation South“[A] brutally honest and true retelling of the life and impact of famous cartoonist William Nealy… championed by [Wallace’s] skillful narration and candid voice.”—Deep South Magazine“Gripping... sensitively and respectfully compiled.”—Southern Review of Books“It is not too much of a stretch to call this tale a Shakespearean tragedy. And it is powerfully and eloquently written.”—Star News“[A] moving meditation on memory, mortality, and masculinity and a beautifully written mixture of memoir and true detective story.”—Yes! Weekly“A mesmerizing combination of memoir and biography.”—Largehearted Boy“[Wallace] oscillates between memoir, elegy, and excavation to recount details, stories, and heartbreaking truths about Nealy—discovering more about his friend in death than he did in life—and reveals intimate, often difficult realizations about himself.”—Alta Online“This book is much like the belated ceremony Daniel conducted at Holly’s gravesite, as an absolution of sorts: a combining of ashes, an offering of grave goods, a willingness to forgive. A veil of secrecy lifted in compassion.”—Carolina Paddler“Vulnerable and engrossing all in one, this is an intensely personal portrait of grief.”—Kat Baltisberger, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill Magazine“[A] journey through one of those friendships marked as much by rapids and danger as by love and trust.”—Garden Gun"Wallace makes you feel like you are sitting with an old friend, reminiscing. The people rattle around in your head, and the writing is clean and clever… This Isn’t Going To End Well is gentle and kind, even when life is not."—Southern Bookseller Review

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Book SynopsisIf you have a loved one who is experiencing suicidal thoughts, you may feel deeply afraid-both of loss and of saying the wrong thing and making matters worse. Based on decades of clinical experience in suicidology, this compassionate guide gives readers the essential communication techniques and coping skills they need to support a loved one in crisis, while also taking care of themselves. If you love someone who is having suicidal thoughts, you may struggle with the profound fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. You want to help, and you may even feel a kind of desperation to make sure your loved one is safe, but are unsure of where to start. This book can guide you as you support your loved one-without sacrificing your own needs and well-being. You'll find the answers to some of your most urgent questions, including: - What are signs, symptoms, and clues of suicide risk? - How do I talk with my loved one about their suicidal thoughts? - When should I call the police? - What treatments are available? - How can I help the person I care about stay safe? - What can I do to help them feel better? - What can I do to cope better, too? - What happens after a suicidal crisis? Written by a psychotherapist and based on decades of clinical experience in suicidology, this compassionate guide offers essential communication techniques you can use to help your loved one, as well as coping and self-care strategies to help you navigate intense stress, worry, fear, and anxiety. Drawn from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindful self-compassion, the tools in this book will assist you in navigating difficult or painful conversations with your loved one, as well as manage your own emotions. If someone close to you is experiencing suicidal thoughts, you may feel afraid-both of loss and of saying the wrong thing and making matters worse. This book will help you recognize warning signs, improve communication, create a safety plan, know when to seek professional help, and support a loved one in crisis.

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Book SynopsisPowerful tools grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help when you feel like there is no hope, and painful and overwhelming thoughts take over. If you are considering this book for yourself, know right now that you are valuable and your life matters. If you are considering the book for someone you care about, know that you have made a tremendously powerful and compassionate choice to help save a life. But first, if you or someone you love is dealing with a crisis right now, please dial 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The book can wait. If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideations, you need to know—above all else—that your life is worth living. This workbook, based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), will help guide you out of your darkest place and find the hope you seek. With the help of this book, you’ll identify all your reasons for living, manage intense emotions, and establish a safe environment when difficult thoughts threaten to take over. You’ll also learn ways to strengthen social connections in your life, develop resiliency in the face of future life challenges and hardships, and find, or rediscover, the activities that bring you joy and meaning. Most of all, this workbook is meant to support you. No matter where you are in your head at this moment, remember the following: You are worth it. You are loved. You matter.

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Book SynopsisSophie grew up in Veslefjord, deep in the Norwegian North, where the ice stretches to the horizon and the long Arctic night is filled with stories about the animals of the sea, ice, and sky. Now the ice is melting and the animals are dying. Sophie's mother is also dead, leaving behind a daughter and a lover on the melting permafrost.An Orchid Astronomy is the story of Sophie, of her personal trauma and of climate catastrophe, told in striking experimental poetry. Crossing poetic styles and genres, words and sentences flow and break, twist into images, and cluster together like the Arctic stars. Coming together in a sustained narrative, these poems ask how we grapple with magnificent loss, searching for solutions in science, in mythology, in storytelling and ultimately, in our relived memories.Challenging, powerful, and beautiful, An Orchid Astronomy wrestles with the grief we feel for the loss of those we love and grief for the changing world. In the language of mass extinction and the unknowable sky, Tasnuva Hayden fearlessly explores the nuances of personal collapse, sublimated desire, unfulfilled longing, and the ways we must move forward in the face of the impossible in poetry that dazzles like the moon on a midwinter night.

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Book SynopsisYour Vet Needs HelpThis book will change your relationship with your veterinarian and their team forever. And what you learn in this book could save your veterinarian's life. That's right - the information in this book isn't just life-changing; it's life-saving. Because what you don't know is your veterinarian is nearly four times more likely to complete suicide than the general population.In this book, you'll learn why veterinarians carry so much stress, how you can help alleviate that stress, and exactly what to do if you're ever in the presence of someone who is suicidal. Don't worry - you can save a life, and this book will show you how.

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Book Synopsis'A deeply affecting memoir ... [this] courageous book tracks the nature and processes of destruction, but more than this, the crucial reconstructions that can follow.' - Alex Garland, director of Ex Machina and author of The Beach 'Insightful, moving and informative' - Jane Garvey, Woman's Hour Tara's childhood was scarred by the debilitating mental illness of her father and by her mother's death from cancer when she was thirteen. Caught up in grief and despair, Tara and her older brother Adam developed a deep bond, but Adam struggled silently with anxiety and depression. Four years after their mother's death, he took his own life, while studying at Oxford University. Grief and insecurity threatened to engulf Tara, but eventually she found, within her brother's diaries, her reason to live. The story moves from London to Sydney as Tara rebuilds her life, firstly as a physiotherapist and then a firefighter. Through her search for understanding and a powerful dialogue with her brother, Tara finds her strength and a way to move beyond her past, to build a life of compassion, meaning and purpose.Trained in suicide prevention and using her PhD studies to investigate the impact of suicide on firefighters, the author hopes that her story will bring hope to those facing their own struggles with grief, trauma or mental ill health, and inspire people to use their greatest challenges to help them grow and lead a more meaningful, fulfilled and engaged life.Trade Review"Insightful, moving and informative" "With honesty, compassion, humour and intelligence, Tara Lal has written a deeply affecting memoir. Her courageous book tracks the nature and processes of destruction, but more than this, the crucial reconstructions that can follow." "The wonderful part of this story has been the opportunity to learn from the book and learn from the author - an extraordinary person who continues to share her love for life." 'This is, without question, the most beautifully written, sensitive, balanced account of grieving that I have ever read. This book is going to be an absolute "must read".' 'I highly recommend this book to anyone who has themselves experienced suicidal ideation or mental ill health as well as to anyone who loves someone who has experienced these.' 'What a beautifully written book. Touching and sensitive and a piece that I am sure will help in a difficult time.' 'Deeply moving and profoundly sad, at times this book somehow finds a way to give you hope and show you that good can come after tragedy.' 'Tara unflinchingly deals with difficult but universal themes: loss, need, anger - but suffusing the whole is a loving and hopeful tone.' 'Her story will stay with you and inspire you forever.' 'This is the honest and at times raw telling of the story of a strong but vulnerable firefighter, as she struggles with, and is transformed by, the legacy of grief associated with the childhood loss of loved ones. Those on a similar journey will find guidance, inspiration and reassurance in this open, heartfelt book.' 'Poignant, moving, enlightening...' 'The most beautiful and moving book I have ever read' 'I recommend this book to everyone I know.' 'You are not just reading, with interest, of someone's life; you are there asking the same questions of yourself and learning compassion along the way. An extraordinary book.' 'Tara's inspiring story takes therapy and moves it into real life. Her resilience comes from tenacity, intelligence and openness to new experiences. She persisted with study, work and relationships, usingher courage and adaptiveness to create a life worthy of her and the people she loves.' So many times it expresses fears and doubts that we all have in a succinct and yet profound manner. Tara's gift is to involve readers so completely in her journey that they, as I did, see the parallels in their own lives. I found it truly inspiring.

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Book SynopsisAN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZEA GUARDIAN BEST MEMOIR OF 2023A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023AN iNEWS BEST BOOK TO GIFTJohn Niven's little brother Gary was fearless, popular, stubborn, handsome, hilarious and sometimes terrifying. In 2010, after years of chaotic struggle against the world, he took his own life at the age of 42.Hoping for the best while often witnessing the worst, John, his younger sister Linda and their mother, Jeanette, saw the darkest fears they had for Gary played out in drug deals, prison and bankruptcy. While his life spiralled downward and the love the Nivens shared was tested to its limit, John drifted into his own trouble in the music industry, a world where excess was often a marker of success.Tracking the lives of two brothers in changing times - from illicit cans of lager in 70s sitting rooms to ecstasy in 90s raves - O Brother is a tender, affecting and often uproariously funny story. It is about the bonds of family and how we try to keep the finest of those we lose alive. It is about black sheep and what it takes to break the ties that bind. Fundamentally it is about how families survive suicide, 'that last cry, from the saddest outpost.'Trade ReviewVivid, visceral, brilliantly funny in places, dispensing sharp punches to the gut in others . . . [O Brother] made me sob more than once, and I suspect it will do the same to you * * Guardian * *Riotous and yet bracingly moving . . . Often exuberant, laugh-out-loud funny, touching, sad and rueful * * Observer * *Heartbreaking, and told with tenderness and honesty . . . The writing is first rate, without announcing how good it is. I can't recommend it strongly enough * * Spectator * *An honest epitaph for a troubled soul, tender and sentimental, but shot through with anger and regret for the things left unsaid * * The Times * *Oh my God, this book! O Brother feels like war-level reportage from the nuclear-blast that suicide inflicts on a family. [. . . ] A book whose genuine importance is only equaled by its sheer, visceral, compulsive readability -- CAITLIN MORANAbsurdly well-written, painfully funny and painfully painful -- ADAM KAYTender, raw and beautiful . . . Niven is a tremendous storyteller. It is a memoir, it is a remembrance, and it is a guttural cry for us all to take those we love and hold them closer, to love them harder - to fight for them, in a society that gives up on men like Gary all too easily * * iPaper * *As moving, scalding, funny and harrowing as any memoir I've ever read -- IAN RANKINO Brother is an extraordinary memoir; as devastating as it is colourful, forensic in its examination of family dynamics and oh so beautifully written. I earmarked so many pages that my copy doubled in width. Do not read the final chapter without a box of tissues -- JOJO MOYESA brutal and brilliant sibling memoir. It's with both humour and pathos that [John Niven] recalls his and Gary's early life growing up in Irvine, Ayrshire, their diverging adult trajectories * * Guardian * *

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Book SynopsisWhat do you say after you've said 'Sorry for your trouble'? This is not just a book for the bereaved but for everyone who is unsure how to act and what to say when faced with friends, family, loved ones, colleagues and acquaintances who have been bereaved. Life After Loss was written for what the author calls the 'second circle' who are dealing with the bereavement of others. They include family, friends, colleagues, employers, carers, nurses, doctors, priests, pastors, social workers and counsellors. Drawing on twenty years of lecturing, training and broadcasting on the subject of bereavement, Christy Kenneally has put together a book filled with human interest, anecdote and even humour.

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Book Synopsis'If Dolly Alderton, Glennon Doyle and Elizabeth Day had a love child, this is the writer they'd produce.' Laura Jane Williams, author and journalist.Stylist's Must Read Book for 2022 Evening Standard's Faces to Watch in 2022Shame is a monster that grows inside us. We all have the monster, it's what we decide to do with it that determines how we live our lives. This is my story... One day in the summer of 2008, I was sat on a train travelling back to London from a weekend of partying with friends when I received a phone call that suddenly changed everything. I was told my boyfriend Richard was in hospital. He died seven days later. I spent most of my twenties pretending this never happened. It has taken me a decade to be able to tell this story, just as it has taken me years to understand that there is no right way to grieve and no right way to live. In our twenties, we are thrown into the adult world without a guidebook. It's a decade that should be about adventure and discovery, so why does it feel catastrophic when we fail? How are we expected to have mastered our lives in such a short amount of time? Saying my shame out loud has made me feel more connected to people in my life. I hope that my story will make you feel less alone, too. It is only by sharing our stories that we can give a voice to the unspoken. Whatever pain you're holding on to, I'm writing this for you.'I wish I'd had this book to guide me into adulthood.' Sathnam Sanghera, bestselling author of Empireland and The Boy with the Topknot 'Will go a long way to helping those struggling with the stigma and shame that, sadly, persistently surrounds mental health.' Vicky Spratt, Refinery29

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Book SynopsisThe world’s Indigenous communities are fighting to live and dying too young. In this vital and incisive work, Tanya Talaga explores intergenerational trauma and the alarming rise of youth suicide. From Northern Ontario to Nunavut, Norway, Brazil, Australia, and the United States, the Indigenous experience in colonised nations is startlingly similar and deeply disturbing. It is an experience marked by the violent separation of Peoples from the land, the separation of families, and the separation of individuals from traditional ways of life — all of which has culminated in a spiritual separation that has had an enduring impact on generations of Indigenous children. As a result of this colonial legacy, too many communities today lack access to the basic determinants of health — income, employment, education, a safe environment, health services — leading to a mental health and youth suicide crisis on a global scale. But, Talaga reminds us, First Peoples also share a history of resistance, resilience, and civil rights activism, from the Occupation of Alcatraz led by the Indians of All Tribes, to the Northern Ontario Stirland Lake Quiet Riot, to the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which united Indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island in solidarity. All Our Relations is a powerful call for action, justice, and a better, more equitable world for all Indigenous Peoples.Trade Review‘Talaga’s treatment and explanation of Indigenous people’s trauma is essential reading.’ -- Rosaleen McDonagh * The Irish Times *‘Tanya Talaga has written an urgent, passionate book, which is about the legacies of colonialism in the most naked, raw sense … Talaga writes with a sense of urgency as one who knows the story from the inside.’ -- Patrick Wright * Five Books *‘An essential work of non-fiction … Through storytelling, on-the-ground reporting, literature surveys, and plenty of statistics, Talaga demonstrates the extent to which Indigenous children continue to live under the full weight of colonial history … All children, she writes, ‘need to know who their ancestors are, who their heroes and villains are.’ In All Our Relations, Talaga restores that basic right to Indigenous children who have been robbed of it. And the rest of us, as an epigraph from author Thomas King makes clear, no longer have the excuse of saying we haven’t heard this story. Talaga alone has told it twice now.’ * Quill & Quire *‘All Our Relations is an impeccably researched and unflinching documentation of how both colonial histories and ongoing genocidal practices have created the suicide crisis among Indigenous youth across the globe. Tanya Talaga expertly folds together interviews, storytelling, and statistics to bring us directly to the startling truth that Indigenous youth are fighting to find themselves through the multiple separations forced on them by settler states: separation of parents from children, separation of peoples from their land, and separation of tongues and hearts from their languages and traditions. All Our Relations is a call to action and a testament to the strength and tenacity of Indigenous people around the world.’ * 2019 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction Jury Citation *‘Talaga's passion for the topic is palpable as she shares eye-opening stories and heartbreaking statistics ... Thoughtful and thought-provoking.’ * Parvati Magazine *‘This book is both moving and effective; it creates the space for readers to understand the complexity of these issues … An excellent read.’ * Ottawa Review of Books *‘While drawing on academic studies, All Our Relations is a burning missive about what is happening now, on the ground, and what needs to be done to make for safe and healthy indigenous communities.’ -- Fiona Capp * The Age *‘A heartbreaking book … [Tanya Talaga’s] writing style is clear and easy to read, and she has a way of telling the reader what they need to know about policy and history by telling stories about people and communities, who are at the heart of this book.’ -- Ranuka Tandan * Hon Soit *Praise for Seven Fallen Feathers: ‘Talaga’s research is meticulous and her journalistic style is crisp and uncompromising … The book is heartbreaking and infuriating, both an important testament to the need for change and a call to action.’ STARRED REVIEW * Publishers Weekly *Praise for Seven Fallen Feathers: ‘An urgent and unshakable portrait of the horrors faced by Indigenous teens going to school in Thunder Bay, Ontario, far from their homes and families … Talaga’s incisive research and breathtaking storytelling could bring this community one step closer to the healing it deserves.’ STARRED REVIEW * Booklist *Praise for Seven Fallen Feathers: ‘Seven Fallen Feathers is achingly blunt in confronting recurring damage that must be repaired. The book puts a human face to the headline statistics, reveals the continuing harm of unequal educational opportunity, and delivers the evidence of systemic racism in Canada with an insistent voice. Tanya Talaga draws the reader into communities of hurt and flawed responses surrounding the deaths of seven Indigenous students, the ‘fallen feathers.’ Talaga yanks at the reader’s complacency with her story of separated families, untethered youths, and the seemingly unbridgeable distance between cultures. She offers painful lessons while courting hope.’ * BC National Award for Canadian Nonfiction Jury Citation *

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Book Synopsis'Spit-your-tea-out funny.' -Fern Brady'Raw, brutal and life-affirming' -Sara Pascoe'Addictive, exhilarating and raw' -Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable'Graphic, explicit, visceral' -Irish Times'Blistering' ­-Sunday Business Post'Transcendent' -Irish IndependentMarise was nine when she first realised there was trouble, 14 when her Dad tried to end it all, and 23 when he finally succeeded.In a turmoil of conflicting emotions she runs, leaving behind Dublin and her Catholic girlhood and fleeing to New York, where she gets into a messy relationship with an older comedian who she idolises and who tells her she's special - until she's not. With a trail of sex, self-destruction and a near miss with Scientology in her back pocket, eventually she finds herself in a California psych ward, a young woman imploding. As she retells her unravelling from child to adult, Marise strips back her identity and her relationship with her father, layer by layer, until she finally starts to understand how to live with him, years after he has gone.Written beautifully, with a caustic sense of humour and brutal honesty, Trouble is one of the most powerful coming-of-age memoirs in recent years.Trade ReviewRaw, brutal and life-affirming - Marise has written a hugely important book that is as entertaining as it is illuminating. * Sara Pascoe *I couldn't put this down. A brave, honest, witty, new Irish voice that has a very bright future ahead of her. * Jade Jordan *Holy cow. I finished it and cried my eyes out. An incredible, beautifully written memoir about humanity, heartbreak and hope. * Lou Sanders *Gripping, funny and heart-wrenchingly relatable. Every time I turned the page I hoped it wouldn't be the last. * Lily O'Farrell, Vulgadrawings *Where so much writing about mental illness is riddled with po-faced earnestness and cliche, Marise Gaughan's take no prisoners approach to craziness, sex and Catholic girlhood is spit-your-tea-out funny.' * Fern Brady *Disarming in its candour, hilarious and harrowing in its depictions of a life shaped by trauma and addiction, Trouble is so much more than a memoir of survival. It is a picaresque journey through the stages of grief; an intimate epic of self-sabotage and self-forgiveness; a no-holds-barred report from the lip of the abyss. How glad I am that Gaughan stepped away in time. Her voice, at once wry, profane and heartfelt, is a gift. She observes with a mordant wit the ways we deceive ourselves in the name of our desires, and reminds us that we are not defined by our pasts, but by the small steps we take every day towards our ideal selves. * Stephen Kelman, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Pigeon English *An unflinching account of a young woman's alternating attempts to survive her father's suicide - or die from it. Marise Gaughan writes with heart-rending precision of the dynamics between fathers and daughters, as well as the still more troubling sexual one between older men and damaged young women. This is a knife-sharp and defiant story of recovery. * Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure for Sleep *Marise is a Brillo pad of a writer, spikey and essential. * Alison Spittle *Gaughan's humour is dark, biting, and painfully honest, but it is in the moments when she is being gentler to herself that her words are at their most transcendent. * Irish Independent *Trouble is an outstanding memoir, a text on addiction that gets to the heart of its implicit trauma and complications. Gaughan has a remarkable voice, self-assured yet vulnerable, frank to a staggering degree - and likeable even in her darkest moments. * The Business Post *Blistering...an outstanding memoir * Sunday Business Post *An outstanding text on addiction and girlhood, equal parts vulnerable and witty * The Business Post *Addictive, exhilarating and raw * Daisy Buchanan, author of 'Insatiable' *

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Book SynopsisAfter the suicide of his son Jack in 2015, journalist Cosmo Landesman set out to write an anti-suicide/ anti-grief memoir that was angry and cynical about the way we look at death, suicide and grief. Where others parents of suicides were motivated to try and do good in the world, Landesman took the do nothing, say nothing and feel as bad as possible option. Seven years later he wonders if he made a terrible mistake. But Jack and Me is more than about suicide - it''s about a clueless father trying to save his troubled son.

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Book Synopsis"Hey mom, I think I might be good at writing. One day, I think I'll write a book." ––John Marshall Foster, 2015 In her second book Inside His locked Box: The Marshall Racing Project 33, Susan E Foster gives voice to her late son, John Marshall Foster, who committed suicide following a miraculous recovery from a harrowing motorcycle accident. It was not the accident that led him to end his life. It goes much deeper. Marshall was battling thoughts of suicide long before the crash. Now through a series of revealing conversations, text messages and essays written by her son, Susan shares an in-depth and profound look inside his life. From his own written words, readers will learn what triggered Marshall's journey while also highlighting what his mother and siblings endured during a very difficult and tumultuous time in their lives. What followed piloted the launch of The Marshall Racing Project 33 (MRP33), a special event created in Marshall's honor benefitting Mental Health Awareness. The special event involved the surprise unveiling of Marshall’s wrecked motorcycle completely refurbished by the founder of Marshall Racing Project 33, Ever Gomez, who played an important role in Marshall’s life. Painted in Marshall’s favorite color green and numbered 33 for Marshall's birthday (March 3rd), Ever continues to race Marshall’s bike delivering the important message that when you feel most hopeless, you are positioned for your coming breakthrough, there is always a reason for hope and life matters. Your life matters. *A portion of sale net proceeds go to: The Marshall Racing Project 33 (MRP33) benefiting Mental Health Awareness

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Book Synopsis"Hey mom, I think I might be good at writing. One day, I think I'll write a book." ––John Marshall Foster, 2015 In her second book Inside His locked Box: The Marshall Racing Project 33, Susan E Foster gives voice to her late son, John Marshall Foster, who committed suicide following a miraculous recovery from a harrowing motorcycle accident. It was not the accident that led him to end his life. It goes much deeper. Marshall was battling thoughts of suicide long before the crash. Now through a series of revealing conversations, text messages and essays written by her son, Susan shares an in-depth and profound look inside his life. From his own written words, readers will learn what triggered Marshall's journey while also highlighting what his mother and siblings endured during a very difficult and tumultuous time in their lives. What followed piloted the launch of The Marshall Racing Project 33 (MRP33), a special event created in Marshall's honor benefitting Mental Health Awareness. The special event involved the surprise unveiling of Marshall’s wrecked motorcycle completely refurbished by the founder of Marshall Racing Project 33, Ever Gomez, who played an important role in Marshall’s life. Painted in Marshall’s favorite color green and numbered 33 for Marshall's birthday (March 3rd), Ever continues to race Marshall’s bike delivering the important message that when you feel most hopeless, you are positioned for your coming breakthrough, there is always a reason for hope and life matters. Your life matters. *A portion of sale net proceeds go to: The Marshall Racing Project 33 (MRP33) benefiting Mental Health Awareness

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