Tera's Tale: Rebel on the River -- A life story of love, rats, cancer, hoarding, and, did I mention love?

by Judith Gwinn Adrian

2019 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal Finalist Through her fiercely independent, yet childlike eyes, Tera allows us to enter the recesses of her guarded world. Her Aussie sister, Beth, walks with us, compassionately guiding and explaining. Tera’s life? A world of secrets. A place of shame. A lifetime of expanding mental illness. Tera moves from collector to hoarder, progressively tipped by the compulsion into a perilous world of rats and disease. As Tera repeatedly expressed through words, actions and even rage, she did not live like other people. And yet, living an ordinary life of home and family was her greatest desire. It would never be. (Includes discussion questions.)

120 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2019

About the author

Judith Gwinn Adrian: After retiring from twenty-five years of college teaching, I am currently mid-stride, co-writing biographies with two other writers. The processes are captivating as I learn about their Puerto Rican cultures, life experiences, and success stories. I am pleased to have four published books: Because I Am Jackie Millar (2007 & 2010), In Warm Blood: Prison & Privilege, Hurt & Heart (2014), and Tera’s Tale: Rebel on the River (2019) and Nancer the Dancer: Myositis and Me (2020). Rufus, my sturdy cat, and I are pictured. I live in Madison, Wisconsin, with my husband. My son and family reside in Minneapolis.

When not writing, I'm reading, gardening, biking, and -- of late -- taking very long walks as we address the impacts of the pandemic. This is a time to turn inward for a bit. Easy work for those of us who are reclusive introverts, I am thinking. Long term effects? I wonder...