West Seattle author Sallie Crotty will read from her memoir Out of the Ashes: A Story of Recovery and Hope at Paper Boat Booksellers on Tuesday, Nov 1, at 6:30 PM. The event will include q&a, books for sale, a signing, and refreshments.

Detailing a mid-life descent into debilitating despair that culminates in a suicide attempt, the memoir brings the reader on a deeply personal journey. She reveals her struggles, time spent in a psychiatric ward, and how lacking a clear diagnosis almost led to her death. She also describes how proper care and receiving the right diagnosis and treatment can provide hope, stability, and a path to happiness.

An Amazon top seller, the book has been praised by Kirkus Reviews as an “ultimately inspiring narrative about living with bipolar disorder.” The NY Journal of Books wrote, “A harrowing but ultimately hopeful account of her descent into mental illness… What sets Crotty’s account apart is the thoroughness with which she documents her struggle to be properly diagnosed and then the painstaking process by which she was able to regain her health.” Hospitals and clinicians have begun sharing the books with patients as part of their wellness plans, and other readers have related how the book empowered them to understand and help loved ones. The author also implores us to begin an urgent national conversation about mental health so we take better care of each other. Along with admiring Crotty’s courage and honesty, readers have lauded her elegant prose.

Please attend the reading and, in the words of one mental health clinician who reviewed the book, “Be prepared to experience your full range of feelings and learn how you can help those around you suffering from a mental illness.”

You can learn more about the author and the book at www.salliecrotty.com.