They are all five-star.
I couldn’t be happier about the wonderful response to my memoir. I hope these reviews will entice you to read the book yourselves.
Madeline Sharples propels her
readers through a startling emotional landscape of those left behind after
suicide, in "Leaving the Hall Light on." Incredibly intimate and
revealing….Her imagery, scenes, and movement through her family's recovery expertly
nail the high art of the memoir. Ruth Belanger
It took considerable courage to
write this book. Madeline Sharples describes a path from guilt and grief to
recovery. Life goes on but it requires personal fortitude. Anyone who has
experienced the suicide of a family member will find Madeline's story helpful. John D. Caldwell
This book takes you on an
emotional journey which is gripping, frightening, and ultimately uplifting.…As
their journey moves from alarm to acceptance, Madeline Sharples explains with
great clarity, detail and compassion the impact that the events have on not
just her as a mother, but on her entire family.…She offers us a window into the
human heart and its capacity to deal with tragedy. A truly compelling book
about the strength of family. Any father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or
sister facing a family challenge, large or small, will find great strength,
solace, and support in this courageously honest and well written book. Martin
Robinson
Madeline Sharples has written a
most heartfelt and courageous book about the mental illness and suicide of her
son, Paul. It is amazing and touching that she could find such poetic, soulful
and honest words to capture the relentless grief of a mother's love…. Alice and
Richard Matzkin
As a mom, I've left the "hall
light on" so many times, knowing that light would help bring my children
home safely. It took great courage and incredible strength for this author to
open up and share the most intimate details of her life and her story about Paul.
Two thumbs up for Leaving The Hall Light
On. Pat Hess
….This is not a "how to"
book that tells you what to in case of a crisis in your family; it expresses
Madeline's pain, frustration, and her journey to overcome the pain of losing a
child….Madeline doesn't sugar coat her experience, she writes candidly about
her experiences as a way to heal and to help others who face similar
situations. Rae Ann Galinato
I have been friends with Madeline
for many years and in fact had lunch with her a few days before her son's
death.…When I heard her tragic news, probably the worst a parent can get, I
wondered how she would ever cope. Her beautifully written, beautifully honest
book answers that question. In a different way than she had always hoped, it
nonetheless will be greatly helpful to any parent unfortunate enough to face a
similar situation. Or to all of us who can benefit from an example of living
with profound courage. Nancie Doughty
In this intensely personal memoir,
Madeline Sharples, mother, author and poet, explains the heartbreak and loss of
living and losing a son to bipolar disorder. Leaving the Hall Light On is a
beautiful, haunting, yet ultimately redemptive book that will stay with the
reader for a long time and carries a message of hope for others who may have
been touched by the pain of mental illness….Leaving
The Hall Light On serves as a beautiful love-letter to Paul. It tells him,
and the reader, that his loss was not in vain, that his mother survived and
found a way to live again and that she found some peace through writing. This
story is a tribute to them both. Elizabeth Isenberg
….The gift that I take away from Leaving the
Hall Light On is the way Madeline and her beautiful family responded to the
worst tragedy any mother, father and family can endure. While it's true that
Paul was bipolar and it is also true that he took his own life, what this
amazing family has done is to say, that doesn't define who Paul really was as a
human being. There are a million other things that describe Paul. He was a
gifted musician, he was kind and caring and incredibly intelligent. He was a
computer whiz and loved children. Paul loved his mother, father and his brother
Ben. He fell in love and was loved back. These are the things he left behind,
the evidence of a life, that Paul was so much more than his illness. What the
Sharples family has done is choose not to live in the one horrific day and
instead, remember the other million days. For
anyone that has lost someone they love, this family can help you navigate your
way through the darkness. It's clearly not easy, but it can happen. You can't
have the same life, but a different, almost as good life. It is a sad but
beautifully written book. Dina Kucera
