Susan Grundy in conversation with CBC’s Carrie Haber
Montreal Book Launch- Thursday, October 24 at Drawn & Quarterly
Mad Sisters is the poignant literary memoir of a caregiver’s struggle to break through the barrier of her sibling’s mental illness in search of sisterhood
MONTREAL, October 2024 – Susan Grundy’s Mad Sisters publishes on October 4 and fittingly launches on October 24, following World Mental Health Day onOctober 10. The author will be joined in conversationwith CBC senior producer Carrie Haber. Through Grundy’s evocative personal stories, Mad Sisters compassionately explores the devastating consequences of her older sister’s diagnosis of schizophrenia at age thirteen. At Espace Drawn & Quarterly with readings and dynamic Q&A, 7pm.
“Schizophrenia is like a cork popping from a bottle,” I told solicitous adults over the next few weeks, repeating what I had overheard. My hands were folded in my lap and my legs were crossed, just how my sister would have sat. The adults showered me with compliments. They told me I was handling it well. I didn’t feel like I was handling anything. The doctors would fix my sister and send her home. I was more worried about my distraught mother and her muffled crying from the other side of the bedroom door.” – excerpt from Mad Sisters
Mad Sisters flips back and forth in time over five decades, underlining how the past has infused the present with the history that Grundy has dragged with her. The storyexplores the devastating shifts in a family struck by mental illness––the tragedy of an adolescent girl with so much promise, discouraged parents who eventually start a new life elsewhere and the jarring comparison between a free-spirited little sister and the burdened caregiver she becomes. Mad Sisters, candidly and with brave honesty, describes the caregiver push-pull whirlpool where Grundy alternates between fury at her sister’s resentful and jealous moods and being flooded with sympathy and guilt — why her and not me?
“I had finished my debut novel and was searching for a new writing project the afternoon my sister pushed me too far in yet another argument. Or rather, we pushed each other. I stormed over to my laptop and banged out a childhood scene – how my sister saved me from drowning in a swimming pool when I was five, an event she still reminds me of. Two thousand words poured out effortlessly, in record time. My fury melted into sadness. The childhood scene was so clear, like it happened yesterday; I knew I needed to write Mad Sisters.” – author Susan Grundy
The Mental Health Commission of Canada reports that mental illness affects 7.5 million Canadians, or one in five. One in four provide care to a family member or friend with a chronic mental disorder, according to StatsCan. Poignant, intense, often humorous and uplifting, theinterfamily tragedy of Mad Sisters offers a mental health narrative that challenges stigma, sheds light on the burdened family caregiver (spotlighting the less common theme of sibling caregivers) and sounds the alarm about the urgent need for systemic change. Mad Sistersechoes a growing worldwide movement calling for a paradigm shift in psychiatric care; the chronic disease approach and drug-based medical model is not working very well. The sisters’ journey, woven with tears and laughter, radiates with the potential for well-being and hope despite the collateral damage from a mental illness diagnosis.This literary memoir invites readers to reflect on their own experiences with mental health, family dynamics, and the strength found in love and resilience. Most of us have a story to tell.
FromRonsdale Press Publisher, Wendy Atkinson: “I was drawn to Mad Sisters because Susan compellingly explores the heart-breaking challenge of trying to help her sister without letting Nancy’s mental illness engulf Susan and her family. She beautifully captures the sibling dynamic within a story of mental illness. Susan writes candidly about the conflicting emotions of resentment and anger at her sister’s actions with her deep love and compassion for her.”
To read further excerpts from Mad Sisters, please click here: www.susanfgrundy.com/mad-sisters-excerpt
Praise for Mad Sisters
“Beautifully written, Mad Sisters, breaks your heart only to lift it moments later. An indispensable book for those of us who love someone with a mental illness.” New York Times bestselling author Pete Earley, author of CRAZY: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness
“Seemingly insurmountable dilemmas dissolve into laughter under Susan’s relentless prodding and Nancy’s sharp wit. By the book’s end, you’ll want to envelop them both in a heartfelt embrace.”Deborah Kasdan, author of Roll Back the World: A Sister’s Memoir
“A raw and honest memoir that bravely confronts and unpacks complex family dynamics, traumatic experiences, and the unbreakable bond between siblings. It’s an emotional rollercoaster of a read, and well worth the ride.” Mark Henick, author of So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience
“I laughed. I cried. A gripping and heart-wrenching memoir that weaves a powerful story of two sisters bound by love and tested by the unyielding hardships of mental illness.” Susan Doherty, author of award-winning The Ghost Garden and Monday Rent Boy
“A moving testimony to love and sisterhood, with a raw, insightful honesty. The result is a powerful ode to human resilience.” Amy Biancolli, author and former family editor for Mad in America
“I finished reading with tears in my eyes. Mental illness is a family affair.” Ella Amir, Executive Director, AMI-Queìbec: Allies in Mental Health
About the author: Inspired by living in Costa Rica, Susan Grundy veered from her thirty-year career in marketing to write stories about the weight of emotional distress and how to step into an easier way of being. Her short fiction has appeared in The Danforth Review and Montreìal Writes. Her debut novel, Black Creek, scheduled to be published by Inanna Publications in spring 2024, was postponed due to financial challenges following the sad loss of the founder-publisher. When not at her desk, Susan can be found walking in nature towards a cafeì. She divides her time between Montreal and London UK.
Susan Grundy and Mad Sisters in the media:
Selected by CBC Books for the fall 2024 nonfiction picks
Featured in the fall 2024 All Lit Up Homegrown series, upcoming
Interview on CBC Radio Noon Quebec about eldest daughter syndrome, July 29, 2024 (at minute 30:05)
Invited to the 2024 Knowlton Literary Festival, October 17
Creative nonfiction/literary memoir Mad Sisters, book launch Thursday, October 24, 7pm
Author Susan Grundy in conversationwith CBC’s Carrie Haber, including readings, Q&A and signings
Espace La Petite Librairie Drawn & Quarterly,176 rue Bernard Ouest, refreshments served
Published by Ronsdale Press, ISBN: 781553807186 | 230 pages
