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Living in the Long Shadow: Surviving a Legacy of Mental Illness
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26This poignant and compelling memoir, set in ’60s–’70s Los Angeles, traces a daughter’s experience of her mother’s schizophrenia and its lasting fallout before she ultimately reckons with her mother’s suicide and trusts in enduring love.
When Suzanne Sherman is four years old, her musically gifted thirty-year-old mother is struck with sudden-onset schizophrenia. In dual timelines—a primary narrative and the two weeks following her mother's suicide—the story traces Suzanne's life over the next fourteen years, as the family bears the ripple divorce, her mother's suicide attempt, hospitalizations, Suzanne’s sister’s institutionalization, and her own choice to leave home at fourteen.
As she grows older, Suzanne forms a friendship with her mother, sharing values, confidences, and a love of music and poetry. But only a year after she leaves Los Angeles for college, excited for her future, Suzanne receives the news that her mother has died by suicide.
Nearly a decade after her mother’s death, Suzanne asks her conflict-avoidant father to put a headstone on her mother’s grave—a request that leads the family to face their sorrow together for the first time. After that, an extraordinary sign from her mother affirms the enduring presence of her love—and for the first time, grief gives way to acceptance.
Living in the Long Shadow explores Sherman’s journey of emotional survival, offering hope, insight, and a deepened compassion for those living with mental illness and those who love them.
When Suzanne Sherman is four years old, her musically gifted thirty-year-old mother is struck with sudden-onset schizophrenia. In dual timelines—a primary narrative and the two weeks following her mother's suicide—the story traces Suzanne's life over the next fourteen years, as the family bears the ripple divorce, her mother's suicide attempt, hospitalizations, Suzanne’s sister’s institutionalization, and her own choice to leave home at fourteen.
As she grows older, Suzanne forms a friendship with her mother, sharing values, confidences, and a love of music and poetry. But only a year after she leaves Los Angeles for college, excited for her future, Suzanne receives the news that her mother has died by suicide.
Nearly a decade after her mother’s death, Suzanne asks her conflict-avoidant father to put a headstone on her mother’s grave—a request that leads the family to face their sorrow together for the first time. After that, an extraordinary sign from her mother affirms the enduring presence of her love—and for the first time, grief gives way to acceptance.
Living in the Long Shadow explores Sherman’s journey of emotional survival, offering hope, insight, and a deepened compassion for those living with mental illness and those who love them.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 29, 2026
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