With raw honesty, concise writing and artistic flair, Madeline Sharples crafts a gripping and poignant account of living with her eldest son, Paul’s seven-year descent into Bipolar Disease and surviving his suicide.

Sparing no details, she brought me into her experience in a way that evoked strong feelings of terror, frustration, fear, pain. For that reason, I found myself reading this book in manageable doses where I had to put the book down and let the passages settle down in my mind. I was not reading a book, I was experiencing Madeline’s story first hand.

Her heartfelt poems woven throughout further deepened and enriched her story and brought her experience and characters alive to me. The poems also served to lighten the blow of the events as I sensed they represented a source of solace in the midst of the storm. Family pictures added depth but if they weren’t there, I still could see and feel the person behind the prose and poetry, whether it be Madeline, her husband ,Bob, or her sons, Paul and Ben.

As a parent of an adult son who has struggled with his own demons, I found myself wondering how a mother could possibly endure such a tragic loss-the worst-losing a child to suicide. But Madeline walked me through her own healing process in an authentic and realistic way, leaving me with a sense of hope that life can and does go on if we choose to work at it. Her ability to convey her resilience is truly awe-inspiring.

Leaving the Lights On is a brave and beautiful story of love, resilience, hope and healing. It will change you. It did me.

Thank you so much, Kathleen, for reading my memoir and for posting such a heartfelt review. All best wishes, Madeline

My pleasure, Madeline. It is a wonderful book!