As Hall himself says, “an eye-opening and sobering experience.”
In the authors’ first nonfiction title, the particulars of Munchausen Syndrome—those diagnosed perpetually feign or provoke symptoms of illness for attention—appear not in the jargon of medical textbooks but in the fraught life of one woman.
Through alternating recollections from Avigal, the patient, and Hall, the therapist, the specifics of Avigal’s episodes are brought into disturbing focus. Abused by her father and unprotected by her mother, Avigal suffered repeated traumatic events. Lacking familial refuge, she continued to harm herself until she was eventually placed in a residential school for children dealing with emotional abuse. Even there, though, she couldn’t escape, falling prey to her caregivers. Avigal didn’t meet Hall until well after she had already married, bore children and lost a son to cancer—a loss which prompted her to attempt suicide again and then reevaluate her well-being. Under Hall’s guidance, Avigal underwent a therapeutic regimen that caused both her and Hall to question many aspects of their own lives. The book’s approach is somewhat unseen in the genre of psychological memoirs: Instead of opting for a singular perspective, the combined frankness of Avigal about her tribulations and Hall about his hurdles in combating them offers enlightening changes of perspective and pace. Despite the book’s often stomach-turning content, it ends on a note of well-earned hope, with Avigal working to address the afflictions of her past. Avigal’s honesty is riveting and bracing, as is Hall’s when he candidly writes of the difficulties of treating Avigal. The book carries a dual meaning in its title: firstly, the secrets of the illness itself and, secondly, the mystery of treating an ailment from which many have not recovered. Avigal and Hall’s collaboration offers readers a coherent timeline while still managing to put forth an arrestingly personal account of redemption. Sensitive, nuanced, ethical and creatively wrought—including reproduced emails between patient and therapist about the treatment process—the book is a major step forward in overcoming the formal restraints of psychiatry to secure dignity, optimism and peace for the mentally ill.
As Hall himself says, “an eye-opening and sobering experience.”Pub Date: May 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-1468094800
Page Count: 176
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.
The former iCarly star reflects on her difficult childhood.
In her debut memoir, titled after her 2020 one-woman show, singer and actor McCurdy (b. 1992) reveals the raw details of what she describes as years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra. Born in Los Angeles, the author, along with three older brothers, grew up in a home controlled by her mother. When McCurdy was 3, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she initially survived, the disease’s recurrence would ultimately take her life when the author was 21. McCurdy candidly reconstructs those in-between years, showing how “my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me.” Insistent on molding her only daughter into “Mommy’s little actress,” Debra shuffled her to auditions beginning at age 6. As she matured and starting booking acting gigs, McCurdy remained “desperate to impress Mom,” while Debra became increasingly obsessive about her daughter’s physical appearance. She tinted her daughter’s eyelashes, whitened her teeth, enforced a tightly monitored regimen of “calorie restriction,” and performed regular genital exams on her as a teenager. Eventually, the author grew understandably resentful and tried to distance herself from her mother. As a young celebrity, however, McCurdy became vulnerable to eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and unstable relationships. Throughout the book, she honestly portrays Debra’s cruel perfectionist personality and abusive behavior patterns, showing a woman who could get enraged by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. At the same time, McCurdy exhibits compassion for her deeply flawed mother. Late in the book, she shares a crushing secret her father revealed to her as an adult. While McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, she’s managed to spin her harrowing experience into a sold-out stage act and achieve a form of catharsis that puts her mind, body, and acting career at peace.
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982185-82-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.
An author’s trip to Venice takes a distinctly Borgesian turn.
In November 2020, soccer club Venizia F.C. offered Nigerian American author Madu a writing residency as part of its plan “to turn the team into a global entity of fashion, culture, and sports.” Flying to Venice for the fellowship, he felt guilty about leaving his immigrant parents, who were shocked to learn upon moving to the U.S. years earlier that their Nigerian teaching certifications were invalid, forcing his father to work as a stocking clerk at Rite Aid to support the family. Madu’s experiences in Venice are incidental to what is primarily a story about his family, especially his strained relationship with his father, who was disappointed with many of his son’s choices. Unfortunately, the author’s seeming disinterest in Venice renders much of the narrative colorless. He says the trip across the Ponte della Libertà bridge was “magical,” but nothing he describes—the “endless water on both sides,” the nearby seagulls—is particularly remarkable. Little in the text conveys a sense of place or the unique character of his surroundings. Madu is at his best when he focuses on family dynamics and his observations that, in the largely deserted city, “I was one of the few Black people around.” He cites Borges, giving special note to the author’s “The House of Asterion,” in which the minotaur “explains his situation as a creature and as a creature within the labyrinth” of multiple mirrors. This notion leads to the Borgesian turn in the book’s second half, when, in an extended sequence, Madu imagines himself transformed into a minotaur, with “the head of a bull” and his body “larger, thicker, powerful but also cumbersome.” It’s an engaging passage, although stylistically out of keeping with much of what has come before.
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781953368669
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Belt Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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