Linda Appleman Shapiro’s memoir, She’s Not Herself is celebrating its second anniversary. And it has a lot to celebrate.
Just take a look at these wonderful reviews:
An honest and compelling story by a brave and gifted writer. ~ Wally Lamb NY Times best-selling author of She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, and many other novels. Winner of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill’s Kenneth Johnson Award for the anti-stigmatization of mental illness.
A story that applies to us all truthful, carefully crafted, and created with a clear-eyed affection. ~ Watts, M.D., poet, writer, musician, NPR commentator
We identify with the author’s sense of alienation from the first chapter and agonize with her longing for a normal life. She’s Not Herself is a revelatory account of someone who grew up with a mentally ill parent and grew up to become an effective, loving mother and a successful professional healer. ~US Review of Books, Barbara Bamburger Scott
I loved going through the journey of Linda’s life with her throughout the memoir not just because of how easy it was to follow along, but how vivid her memories were. She has such a way with words and storytelling. She hooked me from the very first sentence and let me go reluctantly at the end ~ Mcwood Publishing Honest Literary Reviews, S.Davis
. . . a well-crafted and fluid narrative. Good description and dialogue, and enough detail to suffice, but not overburden . . . maintains reader interest throughout. Will certainly resonate with those affected by a family member’s mental illness. However, it also speaks to a wider readership because, at the heart of the story resides the resilience of the human spirit.~San Fransisco Book Review, Diana Irvine
A riveting tale wrapped in elegant prose . . . full of hope and perseverance ~ Peggy Sanders, retired journalist, award-winning author
I’ll also add my glowing review of She’s Not Herself:
Madeline Sharples’ review of She’s Not Herself: A psychotherapist’s journey into and beyond her mother’s mental illness
I love survival memoirs and this is certainly one of the best I’ve read. It resonated with me and touched me in many ways: the author and I both grew up in the 1940s and 1950s, we were both children of immigrant parents hers from Russia, mine from Eastern Europe. And most important of all we both had to find a way to grow up and thrive while our mothers were never themselves. The author’s mother suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and depression, my mother battled with borderline manic depression (undiagnosed). Her mother attempted suicide several times; my mother constantly threatened it. We both had adored older brothers who essentially left us with the burden of our mothers. And we grew up at a time when adults kept secrets from their children so we never really knew, but always suspected, what was really going on in our homes. Yet, despite it all, we both went on to get educated even though we were girls, get married, and have families and careers, deciding not to live an invisible life, like many other women of our generation.
In fact Linda Appleman Shapiro, says, As difficult as my childhood was, I see it now as a gift from which I can draw strength and compassion. This gift was the healing power of forgiving. With that she went on to become a psychotherapist who for over thirty years has helped others.
Brava, author Shapiro. Your excellent writing will help many, many others find the strength to overcome what they are dealt.
This quote from She’s Not Herself says it all:
For me, it wasn’t until I was married and had children that I was truly able to see how deeply affected I was by my childhood. Now, after more than thirty years as a psychotherapist, forty-six years as a wife, forty-four years as a mother, and thirteen years as a grandmother, I hold on to the one belief I consider to be most valuable: the need to honor the parts of our selves that are healthy, the parts that are strong, even when unpredictable situations our own physical or emotional stressors or those of our loved ones catch us off guard.
Read all about it in She’s Not Herself.
Congratulations Linda. I wish you and your memoir continued success.
About the author:
Linda Appleman Shapiro is a Psychotherapist/Addictions Counselor, Mental Health Advocate/Lecturer, Blogger at”A Psychotherapist’s Journey,” and Oral Historian/Life Coach.
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