5/5 ⭐ | Untethered by Deborah L Staunton

Author Deborah L Staunton has created a powerful read unlike any other.  Comprised of short poetic stories, prose, and gut-wrenching memories “Untethered” weaves a heart breaking and profound read. 

Short, but not full of sweet, well written, and gripping, this debut is a whirlwind of emotions, memories, and a life lived.  “Untethered” doesn’t hold back but presents its most difficult moments of life in a way I’ve not yet seen compiled.  Enjoyable, yet difficult to read, I found myself sitting with the weight of her journey, celebrating the small “wins” along the way, and feeling all the heart break in between.

Taking the darker, harder parts of her life, Staunton gives readers a realistic, artistic, and therapeutic release.  From a childhood riddled with alcoholism, to the losses faced on her road to becoming a mother, and even the struggles of parenting her own ill child.  I felt seen, validated, embraced, and an entire range of emotions as I wound my way through the pages of Staunton’s life.

Wanting to reach through the book to hug the twelve-year-old facing more than she ever should have, to the mother feeling alone with her vacant womb, and the parent just trying to do their best.  Life is not easy, but Staunton bears all bringing us along for the brutally beautiful ride that is life.

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5/5 ⭐ | Embracing The Shadows: Navigating a Family’s Mental Illness by Marlene Dunham

“Embracing The Shadows” shines a light on the mental illness landscape.  From the past to the present, and the impacts it has had, the research within oscillates from a medical standpoint, genealogical standpoint and that of the author’s own family. 

Author Marlene Dunham didn’t set out to simply entertain with her family’s story, but to educate and inform in a way that brings to light the conversations surrounding mental illness. Coming from a family with their own diagnosed mental illnesses, I was drawn to Marlene’s story.  “Embracing The Shadows” is laid out in such a way that provides background on the diseases within, as well as the history of treatments and their impacts.  Additionally, Dunham provides prospective from each of her surviving siblings as they reflect on their upbringing and lasting effects of living in a family with members suffering from mental illnesses.  Starting with the union of her mother and father, readers get a sense her father brought with him some baggage.  At one point it is detailed that even his psychiatrist told her mother to run prior to their union.  Regardless, the marriage took place and six children resulted over the years. 

From prolonged hospital stays to various medical treatments and the introduction of lithium, the ups and downs of her father’s manic periods and depression took its toll on the family.  As each sibling recounts their childhood, the love or lack thereof they felt, and the reverberating repercussions of living in a family with prevailing mental illness, readers are given a front row seat to the impacts it had on each of their lives.  Even our author recounts her own experiences incidentally joining a cult, which she traces back to likely stemming from her upbringing.

I related to Dunham’s story, her family and their fears and experiences.  Mental illness is rarely discussed in families, there is a negative stigma that can persist around it, but Dunham cracks the door open and allows for a dialogue to help embrace topics often kept in the shadows.  Providing both research and her own experiences Dunham has created a read that validates, verifies, and vindicates for all living with, or loving someone with mental illness.

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