Don't Go Back to Sleep: a memoir

by Lisa Barstow

PUBLISHER'S This is a 2020 reprint of the 2009 First Edition. From the author's "Last year I found a photograph of my great-grandmother as a young woman. I had never seen her before. Staring at her face, I tried to find some familial likeness, but mostly, I wondered who she was and what she believed in. I knew then that I was writing this memoir for my grandchildren and for the generations that will come after them. I want to leave them a legacy, the story of an ancestor whose blood is mingled with theirs. There is a saying in Hawaii that I 'We are the descendants of our ancestors, and the ancestors of our descendants.' Sharing my heart with the past and future generations of my family is an honor. God Bless them all." “We think we’ve seen the inner workings of rich WASP families during the middle of the 20th century—O’Hara and Cheever come to mind—but we haven’t quite seen it all. In Lisa Barstow’s strangely affecting memoir, we get the details as she actually lived that life and then fought against it. Through tragedy and triumph, Ms. Barstow learns a new way of seeing her family and herself—all the while sharing her insights on the page.” —Anita Shreve, best-selling author of The Weight of Water

231 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2020

About the author

New York City native Lisa Barstow earned her BA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. Trained as a writing workshop facilitator in the AMA Method at Amherst Writers and Artists in Amherst, Massachusetts, she has led AMA workshops and retreats in Maine for over two decades. Her own essays and poems have been featured in numerous publications from New England to Hawaii, where she lived for several years. She is the author of a poetry chapbook, Poems from the Heart, and created In the Company of Women: Women’s Musings on Elderhood, an anthology written in collaboration with other women over the age of 50 about the trials and blessings of conscious aging.

Her 2009 memoir, Don’t Go Back to Sleep, recalled her privileged upbringing in Manhattan during the halcyon days of the 1950’s. Nannies, debutante cotillions, trips to Europe and social summers on the coast of Maine kept her in a “box” that shielded her from the rest of the world. By early adulthood, that container began to fall apart. Her parents' divorce, alcoholism, cancer battles and early deaths brought painful losses and a new perspective—one that propelled her into the second half of life better prepared for change.

Lisa’s latest book continues the story. Where the Two Worlds Touch is her own mythical journey of exploration, self-discovery, and transformation. Guided toward connection and purpose through study, travel, and by generous teachers along the way, her increasing awareness of the presence of the unseen spiritual world and a deep devotion to the expansion of consciousness in the second half of life has led her to the witness within. Elderhood has opened her heart to Self.

Lisa lives along the coast in Southern Maine with her husband Bill Stepchew. Online at www.lisabarstow.com.

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting because a memoir written by someone my wife went to school with. Probably not so interesting without the personal connection. It's a sad story of growing up wealthy but battered by a succession of tragic events. Ultimately the writer rises above the early struggles and finds faith and hope in a busy and productive life.