Paper Girls Burn: A Borderline Personality Disorder Memoir

by Pippa Scott

From a young age, Pippa Scott was made to feel damaged for simply being different. A highly sensitive child prone to emotional outbursts, she was sent away to a rigid British boarding school. Instead of taming her, the experience of abandonment and isolation intensified her longing for acceptance and comfort.

Set amidst the changing eras from the 1980s to the 21st century, Paper Girls Burn follows Scott as she becomes a young woman and increasingly turns to sex with sometimes cruel, occasionally dangerous men. Beyond her countless one-night stands, she becomes obsessed with men who reject her and chases belonging while she hooks up with a rock star in London, trains to dazzle on Broadway, works for jaded film execs in LA and probes the depths of Vancouver’s drag world.

At age thirty-five, Scott finds answers through a comprehensive diagnosis: borderline personality disorder with ADHD, OCD, PTSD, and depression. From there, she begins her journey towards healing and inner peace.

More than one woman’s story, this memoir offers reassurance to anyone who has been made to feel damaged for simply being different and yearning to be loved.

246 pages, Paperback

Expected publication January 8, 2027

Reviews

[Elisa]

A raw and unfiltered look into the life of someone living with Borderline Personality Disorder, among other things, for many years undiagnosed. Scott leaves nothing to the imagination and completely pulls the curtain back to vulnerably show us the depths of herself. Scott reflects on her past extremely candidly.

Not only does Scott detail many of the events of her life relating to relationships, but also how many doctors and medical professionals failed to adequately diagnose BPD over the years. Without the tools available to navigate something like BPD, how can we expect people to manage their mental health? So many instances of being completely and utterly misunderstood.

Really enjoyed reading this! Definitely pick it up if you like or are interested in memoirs, especially focused on personal lives and mental health.

Thank you to the author and her team for sending me this book to read and review early! Out now in Canada, and out in January in the US!

[Sof]

A lovely, sad, and raw memoir of what it’s like to have Borderline Personality Disorder in a world where stigma and ableism run rampant. From a young age, Pippa Scott would have emotional outbursts. Instead of receiving the support she needed, her parents sent her to a rigid boarding school, intensifying her feelings of unworthiness and abandonment. These feelings would follow her into adulthood in the form of harmful relationships with men as she tried to find validation and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed Pippa Scott’s Paper Girls Burn! 🩷 Mental health disorders are still very stigmatized, and this book paints a really accurate picture of what it’s like to live with one (or many), and how friends, families, and systems can fail us. As someone with OCD with comorbid traits of BPD, a lot of what Scott delved into resonated with me. I felt seen and understood, and I imagine many who read this and have BPD or similar illnesses will feel the same way. I wholeheartedly appreciated Scott’s candidness when it came to describing some of the past behaviours she engaged in. For me, there are many things I’m still embarrassed about, but Scott’s memoir allowed me, for the first time, to feel a bit more forgiving of myself. She didn’t hesitate to delve into every aspect of BPD, OCD, ADHD, PTSD, and depression, which is so important because with awareness comes understanding and, hopefully, empathy.

Another thing that stood out to me was how mental health disorders are often used against people who have them, especially women. So many men failed Scott. When I thought a bit more about her ex-husband, I kept thinking of how cis, hetero, misogynistic, and patriarchal norms of telling young boys that they can’t express emotions leads to emotionally stunted men who flee the moment anyone, but especially women, are vulnerable and open with them.

To see this pattern repeated so often in Scott’s memoir was a stark reminder of that. And when we wonder why healthcare and mental health systems fail people, we must always remember that the foundations of these systems are rooted in capitalism, the patriarchy, heteronormativity, and more. Scott’s memoir really made me think more broadly about this!

Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the way this book was written; it was concise and clear and I liked Scott’s use of analogies and descriptions! I was absorbed from the start, and clearly this book made me think and reflect a lot haha.

Thank you to the author and Caitlin Press for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review 🩷

Paper Girls Burn comes out in Canada on September 18th, and in the US on January 8th.

[Christina Myers]

Full disclosure: I received an early ARC of this book from the publisher.

I've read a lot of memoirs and a lot of debut memoirs in particular, and very few are as vulnerable and intimate as this one - Scott holds nothing back, sharing with the reader moments throughout her life that are heartbreaking, tragic, heroic, joyful, frightening and everything in between. This is the story of a woman's slow discovery of how to live in a world that isn't quite built for her; it is the story of unexpected diagnoses, of challenging relationships, of a quest for love in all its forms including self. It's clear that Scott's goal is not simply to chronicle experiences but to educate, in particular to connect with others who may be living similar experiences without understanding why or what is going on with them. The reader learns about BPD alongside the author as she comes to an understanding of herself that finally puts all the puzzle pieces together.