By Leslie Lindsay

May is all about growth. Spring is in full bloom; and it’s a time for recognition and celebration, but it can also be a loaded month. Over thirty years ago this month, my mother devolved into psychosis. We were estranged starting in my tweens, until her suicide over six years ago. How does that leave me to mother my own daughters? Would I fall victim to the same genetic legacy? Could I break the cycle of poor mother-daughter relationships? And how do I celebrate Mother’s Day with no mother? How did I celebrate my mother when she was alive and not capable of being much of one?

“I am so grateful to have this conversation with you. It means a great deal respond to someone who has so carefully read my work and I’m thankful to have this opportunity to reflect in this way.”

-Vince Granta, EVERYTHING’S FINE

For the entire month of May, I’ve featured some really wise and thoughtful authors–they’ve courageously shared their relationships with their mothers, opened up about their deep connections with their daughters, lead us into dark corners of their grieving souls, but also how they’ve come up for air, found hope, and healed amongst the shattered pieces. There’s growth here, understanding, empathy, forgiveness. And so much more. We talk about memory, emotion, the art & craft of writing, coincidences, anger, and it was nothing short of transformational.

“I loved your intelligent questions and the process, as well. I so appreciate your generosity, especially to a first time author: It was such a thrill to see the post up in digital print.”

-Deborah Shepherd, SO HAPPY TOGETHER

If you missed something, it’s easy to read our conversations. Just click of the interview (“in conversation,”) near the date on the book image you’re interested in, and you’re in!

Sharing really is caring. If you read something you love, please share it by posting on your preferred social media outlet. Getting the word out on such a tender and vulnerable aspect our life is why we do what we do. It matters. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @leslielindsay1. Most authors featured have similar accounts. Please, re-circulate. It’s a kindness we really appreciate.

“Your grasp of the book was a delight. I think I found the perfect reader for this work.”

Maryanne O’Hara, LITTLE MATCHES

HERE THEY ARE….

You Might Like:

• This piece about why I do what I do
• These books with a Mental Health Element
• Shop my May 2021 featured titles HERE
• My piece in The Mighty featuring memoirs about mothers & mental illness
• A profile piece of Mary Kubica in Women Writers
• A bit about my memoir-on-submission, MODEL HOME: Motherhood, Madness & Memory
• An essay about my life at FOURTEEN and how it was vastly different from my daughter’s in Mutha Magazine. #mentalillness #mothers #custody

“…wonderful, inventive, and engaging questions from such a perspicacious individual. [She] showed my mother such kindness and thoughtfulness.”

–Claire Phillips, A ROOM WITH A DARKER VIEW

ABOUT YOUR HOST:

Leslie Lindsay is the creator and host of the award-winning author interview series,“Always with a Book.” Since 2013, Leslie, named “one of the most influential book reviewers” by Jane Friedman, ranks in the top 1% of all GoodReads reviewers and has conducted over 700 warm, inquisitive conversations with authors as wide-ranging as Robert Kolker and Shari Lapena to Helen Phillips and Mary Beth Keane, making her website a go-to for book lovers world-wide. Her writing & photography have appeared in various print journals and online. She is the award-winning author of SPEAKING OF APRAXIA: A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech, soon to become an audiobook from Penguin Random House. A former psychiatric R.N. at the Mayo Clinic, Leslie’s memoir, MODEL HOME: Motherhood, Madness, & Memory, is currently on submission with Catalyst Literary Management. Leslie resides in the Chicago area with her family.

“Leslie, you are just the best.”

–Nicole Bokat

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