Season of the Nightingale—a memoir

“Season of the Nightingale “ is a memoir exploring the dynamics of mental illness, suicide, human loss, hope and recovery.

On my son’s 21st birthday I picked out his coffin. It was copper colored. It was not extravagant but it was better than a white pine box. Earlier that day I was tasked with having to see his dead body on a metal slab and the unthinkable prospect of kissing his bruised face goodbye for the last time.

This is a narrative of a mother and her child, and the transcendent quality of their relationship. But mostly, it is the story of a woman struggling with a new truth that alters her very existence.

My story is partly told through a series of journal entries. It is prefaced with my own interpretation of loss, grief, recovery and the objective behind the book itself. This is a portrayal of the human condition in its deepest abyss. It is also a story of personal insight, hope, and the fervent conviction that life exists beyond the parameters of mortality.