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The Return Trip: A Memoir
At age 30, Maya Golden appeared to be living a charmed life. She was an award-winning sports reporter, a loyal wife, and a new mom. Outwardly, she was the picture of the American Dream for many women. Privately, she was battling addiction, perfectionism, dissociation disorder, and rage due to sexual abuse endured at the hands of her cousin and other predators.
After years of harboring pain and channeling her anger into unhealthy outlets, Maya wanted to change. So, on a family road trip back to her Texas hometown, she decided she was ready to put an end to the secrets that threatened her marriage and her career. Three separate moments of divine intervention ultimately saved Maya’s life.
From a suicide plan to treatment facility to launching a non-profit organization—Maya’s story chronicles and dissects her journey to show others that purpose can be made from trauma.
After years of harboring pain and channeling her anger into unhealthy outlets, Maya wanted to change. So, on a family road trip back to her Texas hometown, she decided she was ready to put an end to the secrets that threatened her marriage and her career. Three separate moments of divine intervention ultimately saved Maya’s life.
From a suicide plan to treatment facility to launching a non-profit organization—Maya’s story chronicles and dissects her journey to show others that purpose can be made from trauma.
288 pages, Paperback
Published November 14, 2023
1 person is currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Maya Golden Bethany
2 books16 followersMaya Golden Bethany (pen name Maya Golden) is an award-winning television and print journalist, engaging speaker and debuting novelist. She is also the founder and executive director of the 1 in 3 Foundation, a nonprofit that helps women recover from PTSD, addiction and the mental effects of sexual violence. She travels the country speaking about topics including mental health, wellness, education and equality in the workplace.
Maya’s childhood dream of sharing her stories with the world is coming to fruition with her debut novel, The Return Trip. This compelling memoir, set to release in November 2023 through Rising Action Publishing Collective, recounts Maya’s seemingly charmed life as a successful career woman, loyal wife and devoted mother. Yet secretly, she struggles against the lingering trauma of childhood sexual abuse. The mental and physical anguish trigger a decades-long battle against debilitating coping mechanisms and vices ranging from sexual and porn addiction to perfectionism to dissociation disorders and rage. After eye-opening events thwart her suicide plans, Maya begins a transformational journey of healing, leading to her brazen advocacy of initiatives that educate and empower other survivors. Her brutally honest narrative offers hope that they, too, can move beyond the shame and stigmatizing silence associated with childhood sexual abuse and addiction.
Her first fiction novel, a political thriller, "The Senator," is set to release in spring 2025 also through Rising Action Publishing Collective. Pitched for fans of the TV show Scandal and novel The Pelican Brief, in which a US Senator from Maine and his NYT reporter college suitemate get close to exposing unlawful plots, threatening the safety of their loved ones and leading them to wonder what's more important--their family and friends or the health of the public.
A graduate of Texas A&M University, Maya’s career spans from covering sports for the university newspaper, The Battalion, to working at WFAA to working at WFAA in Dallas as a production assistant, editor, newscast writer and field producer. She then worked as a general assignment reporter for KLTV in Tyler, Texas, before becoming the first female weekend sports anchor/sports reporter in the station’s history. Maya further made history as the first female sports director in East Texas television, serving as the main sports anchor during evening newscasts. Currently, she works as a freelance journalist and is a frequent contributor for Bally Sports and is a sideline reporter for Legacy Sports Network.
Other professional accolades include winning multiple Texas Associated Press Broadcasters awards and the Excellence in My Market Award from the Lone Star Emmy Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She also received two Lone Star Emmy nominations. She has been featured on Fox Sports College as well as ESPN 2 & 3. Her work has also appeared on BlackGirlNerds.com, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, IN Magazine, The Tyler Loop and the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Maya is a member of the Writers' League of Texas, Women's Fiction Writers Association and WriteHive.
Outside of work, the Dallas native relishes spending time with her husband and son as well as beloved family pets ranging from man’s best friend to aquatic creatures.
Maya’s childhood dream of sharing her stories with the world is coming to fruition with her debut novel, The Return Trip. This compelling memoir, set to release in November 2023 through Rising Action Publishing Collective, recounts Maya’s seemingly charmed life as a successful career woman, loyal wife and devoted mother. Yet secretly, she struggles against the lingering trauma of childhood sexual abuse. The mental and physical anguish trigger a decades-long battle against debilitating coping mechanisms and vices ranging from sexual and porn addiction to perfectionism to dissociation disorders and rage. After eye-opening events thwart her suicide plans, Maya begins a transformational journey of healing, leading to her brazen advocacy of initiatives that educate and empower other survivors. Her brutally honest narrative offers hope that they, too, can move beyond the shame and stigmatizing silence associated with childhood sexual abuse and addiction.
Her first fiction novel, a political thriller, "The Senator," is set to release in spring 2025 also through Rising Action Publishing Collective. Pitched for fans of the TV show Scandal and novel The Pelican Brief, in which a US Senator from Maine and his NYT reporter college suitemate get close to exposing unlawful plots, threatening the safety of their loved ones and leading them to wonder what's more important--their family and friends or the health of the public.
A graduate of Texas A&M University, Maya’s career spans from covering sports for the university newspaper, The Battalion, to working at WFAA to working at WFAA in Dallas as a production assistant, editor, newscast writer and field producer. She then worked as a general assignment reporter for KLTV in Tyler, Texas, before becoming the first female weekend sports anchor/sports reporter in the station’s history. Maya further made history as the first female sports director in East Texas television, serving as the main sports anchor during evening newscasts. Currently, she works as a freelance journalist and is a frequent contributor for Bally Sports and is a sideline reporter for Legacy Sports Network.
Other professional accolades include winning multiple Texas Associated Press Broadcasters awards and the Excellence in My Market Award from the Lone Star Emmy Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She also received two Lone Star Emmy nominations. She has been featured on Fox Sports College as well as ESPN 2 & 3. Her work has also appeared on BlackGirlNerds.com, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, IN Magazine, The Tyler Loop and the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Maya is a member of the Writers' League of Texas, Women's Fiction Writers Association and WriteHive.
Outside of work, the Dallas native relishes spending time with her husband and son as well as beloved family pets ranging from man’s best friend to aquatic creatures.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 15, 2023
The Return Trip: A Memoir by Maya Golden is such a powerful read!
I've read a lot of memoirs, but never one like Golden's. There is a thread of hope and resilience from the very beginning when we learn what has shaped Golden's life filter. Although it was incredibly heartbreaking to read, I simply craved reading her story. It is clear that Golden is now in a much better place mentally when looking back on the trauma she endured because she's managed to write with such an uplifting tone.
Reading memoirs is like sitting and listening as someone shares their darkest moments. I enjoy learning about others' life experiences mostly so that I can make adjustments in my own life, continuously making me strive to be a better person. Golden's memoir has made me approach our daughter a little bit differently. I can now see just how important it is to truly know your parents believe you, want the best for you, and will always be on your side. This new perspective will adjust how I parent.
The amount of courage Golden had when writing her memoir is astronomical. It is clear to see just how helpful the different aspects of her treatment are to who she is becoming and how she views herself. The Return Trip as a title is perfect for her journey back, revisiting the trauma she experienced as a young child.
I look forward to reading the political thriller she has in the works to publish in the spring of 2025 because I just want more of her writing!
Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co for the complimentary copy to read and review.
I've read a lot of memoirs, but never one like Golden's. There is a thread of hope and resilience from the very beginning when we learn what has shaped Golden's life filter. Although it was incredibly heartbreaking to read, I simply craved reading her story. It is clear that Golden is now in a much better place mentally when looking back on the trauma she endured because she's managed to write with such an uplifting tone.
Reading memoirs is like sitting and listening as someone shares their darkest moments. I enjoy learning about others' life experiences mostly so that I can make adjustments in my own life, continuously making me strive to be a better person. Golden's memoir has made me approach our daughter a little bit differently. I can now see just how important it is to truly know your parents believe you, want the best for you, and will always be on your side. This new perspective will adjust how I parent.
The amount of courage Golden had when writing her memoir is astronomical. It is clear to see just how helpful the different aspects of her treatment are to who she is becoming and how she views herself. The Return Trip as a title is perfect for her journey back, revisiting the trauma she experienced as a young child.
I look forward to reading the political thriller she has in the works to publish in the spring of 2025 because I just want more of her writing!
Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co for the complimentary copy to read and review.
September 6, 2023
Major trigger warnings for this one; specifically sexual assault and suicide.
This is an incredibly intimate recount of Golden's experiences with addiction, sexual abuse, and her early journey in sobriety. The first half of this book was craftily organized to keep the reader turning pages as Golden focused on a variety of times in her life when she felt the most out of control.
The latter half, however, started to feel disorganized and frantic. While that at times may very well be the result of the sensitive topics and memories she is diving into, it left me disengaged from her story. One specific passage reflecting on her (sorta) book bag and the despair it brought her at school felt so out of place and honestly annoying.
The biggest disappointment I had with this book was the way Golden's physical abuse of her husband was pretty well passed over as her "stuck in a wheel" and him being codependent.
The rehab program, as she described it, also seemed odd at times. Recommending abstinence from flour and sugar seems to be the introduction of a new dietary restriction - and inconsistent with recovery from disordered eating. Similarily, abstinence from prescription drugs is abliest. The program certainly seemed to be steeped in fatphobic beliefs.
Overall an alright, but certainly heavy, read.
This is an incredibly intimate recount of Golden's experiences with addiction, sexual abuse, and her early journey in sobriety. The first half of this book was craftily organized to keep the reader turning pages as Golden focused on a variety of times in her life when she felt the most out of control.
The latter half, however, started to feel disorganized and frantic. While that at times may very well be the result of the sensitive topics and memories she is diving into, it left me disengaged from her story. One specific passage reflecting on her (sorta) book bag and the despair it brought her at school felt so out of place and honestly annoying.
The biggest disappointment I had with this book was the way Golden's physical abuse of her husband was pretty well passed over as her "stuck in a wheel" and him being codependent.
The rehab program, as she described it, also seemed odd at times. Recommending abstinence from flour and sugar seems to be the introduction of a new dietary restriction - and inconsistent with recovery from disordered eating. Similarily, abstinence from prescription drugs is abliest. The program certainly seemed to be steeped in fatphobic beliefs.
Overall an alright, but certainly heavy, read.
December 3, 2023
An Impactful Read!!
This book courageously and authentically shares a journey of healing. Not a how-to by any means, but such a representation of how you can heal and own your story, the beginning, ending and most importantly the messy middle. This writer took the hard road which is what it takes to heal from the inside out. She wraps words around hard and heavy topics and does not sugar coat a thing. Again, she owns her story fully. She provides a clear lens for how people are impacted by sexual abuse (not just by the events of abuse, rather how they imprinted on her and impacted her in every area of her life), family of origin trauma, as well understanding how the roles of the church and culture impacted her personally. This was both an easy read (very well written and I didn’t want to put it down) and a hard read (again she is real and shares details that are hard to digest at times but again absolutely accurate and in my opinion necessary for healing). I definitely recommend this read for those on a healing journey, those in a relationship (family, friend, or partner) with someone who is a survivor of abuse, clinicians or students in the mental health field…or really anyone wanting to better understand how we as humans come to be who we are at different stages in life.
This book courageously and authentically shares a journey of healing. Not a how-to by any means, but such a representation of how you can heal and own your story, the beginning, ending and most importantly the messy middle. This writer took the hard road which is what it takes to heal from the inside out. She wraps words around hard and heavy topics and does not sugar coat a thing. Again, she owns her story fully. She provides a clear lens for how people are impacted by sexual abuse (not just by the events of abuse, rather how they imprinted on her and impacted her in every area of her life), family of origin trauma, as well understanding how the roles of the church and culture impacted her personally. This was both an easy read (very well written and I didn’t want to put it down) and a hard read (again she is real and shares details that are hard to digest at times but again absolutely accurate and in my opinion necessary for healing). I definitely recommend this read for those on a healing journey, those in a relationship (family, friend, or partner) with someone who is a survivor of abuse, clinicians or students in the mental health field…or really anyone wanting to better understand how we as humans come to be who we are at different stages in life.
November 16, 2023
I enjoyed the memoir about Maya’s life so far. She has had a lot of tragedy in her life so I was surprised as I started to read the book. The first part of the book is filled with so many things that happened to her when she was a child. I was engaged in the writing and the story being conveyed.
This is such a moving and emotional story to read and I loved how Maya overcame all of the things that happened in her short life and did so many great things recently. This is a true testament to how you can have tragic and bad things happen to you but you can get better and do some great things with your life in the future!
This was an emotional read so make sure to get those tissues ready for the first part of the book!
This is such a moving and emotional story to read and I loved how Maya overcame all of the things that happened in her short life and did so many great things recently. This is a true testament to how you can have tragic and bad things happen to you but you can get better and do some great things with your life in the future!
This was an emotional read so make sure to get those tissues ready for the first part of the book!
November 16, 2023
Over the last couple of years, I have read a lot of memoirs and I’m always interested to learn about other people and their lives. Maya Golden’s is no exception, I was truly invested in reading about her because of the strength and willpower I felt in the beginning. We learn of her trauma and how she is now in a place where she can look back on it and tell her story. It was hard to put down, I wanted to know every detail because I was amazed at her strength and resilience. This was a great read.
August 22, 2023
Major content and trigger warnings.
The book is so good and it captured my interest right away as the main character goes about her business. We get a real look at her present day mom and wife life and then glimpses into her childhood where trauma has taken place. I had to keep reading, hard to put this one down. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
The book is so good and it captured my interest right away as the main character goes about her business. We get a real look at her present day mom and wife life and then glimpses into her childhood where trauma has taken place. I had to keep reading, hard to put this one down. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
June 10, 2024
Deeply moving memoir that sheds light on one woman's experience with childhood sexual abuse, the results that played out in her life, and how she metabolized the trauma to create good in the world. Brave work that is written with such skill it was compulsively readable even as the subject matter is difficult.
December 21, 2023
A raw, unflinching account of childhood trauma, addiction, mental health struggles, and ultimately, healing. Maya Golden is particularity gifted in lifting the veil on the shame surrounding the actions of addicts and I hope that anyone struggling with addictive behaviours will read this and know that they are not alone. And that there is hope and healing beyond the damage that was done to them.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews