"A Promise of Hope" By Autumn Stringam HarperCollins

*First appeared at http://www.edwardsmagazine.ca/book_club_non-fiction_promise_hope.html*

This was, by far, the most honest and gut wrenching book I have ever read. In it Autumn Stringam hold nothing back in describing her life growing up with a mother who had bi-polar disorder and then the devastating discovery that she suffered from the illness herself. She also discusses her father’s struggle to find a cure for her and her brother (who was also beginning to show signs of the illness) and the subsequent roadblocks to that cure thrown up by the government of Canada. This is a book that will make you sad, heartbroken, hopeful and angry as Hell
Autumn takes us through the horrors of growing up with a mother who suffered from a mental illness, all the while maintaining a love and dignity for her mom. I believe it was through this love for her mother that she came to understand and accept her own illness, allowing herself to try the herbal mix her father and a friend had discovered.
Because of her straightforward, unsugarcoated writing style, this was a very easy read. Yet, at the same time, it was a hard read, too. I found some of the incidents of the depressive stages difficult to work through because of the pain the author felt and how well she describes it.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants or needs a better understanding of mental illness and what it is like to live with one.