Bass offers a memoir of navigating mental illness, addiction, and complicated personal relationships.

The book begins with the author’s stay in a mental hospital in 1982, and the author goes on to reflect on her life, family, and the events that led to her hospitalization. In 1967, when Bass was 19, her family relocated from small-town Wisconsin to Los Angeles in the wake of her mother’s extramarital affair. After her parents’ divorce, she and her brother, Brian, were largely left to fend for themselves. Bass moved on to college, studying psychology, and Brian had trouble adjusting to adulthood. He increasingly struggled with mental illness and was eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. After Brian’s death by suicide, Bass faced guilt and loneliness; later, the additional stressors of motherhood, money troubles, and an unfulfilling marriage led her deeper into alcohol addiction. She began seeing a therapist to help her quit smoking, but their intimate conversations about her trauma ultimately led to strong mutual feelings of attraction. The book’s narrative grows increasingly disjointed as the author recounts how her mental state deteriorated—a skillfully executed stylistic decision that makes the prose immersive and emotionally compelling. Through poetic and thought-provoking prose, she examines the human need for companionship and connection with refreshing candor, not shying away from describing the darker aspects of her own impulses and behavior: “The world is dazzling wherever I am, an object of beauty, and I want to take my time wandering through it. No need to strive, because everything I’ve ever wanted is right here with me, the world suffused with meaning and splendor.” The pacing of the memoir is somewhat uneven, as later sections spend much more time lingering on specific feelings and moments. Still, the work’s exceptional prose and unflinching honesty make for an engaging read.

A skillfully written personal exploration.

—Kirkus Reviews