My paperback launch is August 6

Since Dream of Things will launch the paperback edition of Leaving the Hall Light On: A Mother’s Memoir of Living with Her Son’s Bipolar Disorder and Surviving His Suicide this Monday, August 6, I thought I’d share the newest reviews posted on Amazon in the last three weeks.

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

Miracles do happen - I'm sure of it

I’m struck once again how life and death events put everything into perspective. The petty things I was worrying over – what Pilates class should I take, when should I go to Portland to visit my sister, or even what should I cook for dinner – at the beginning of this week fell by the wayside when I heard the news that Ben had been in a horrific automobile accident on the freeway on Wednesday night while he was on his way home from acting class.

He called me the day after about noon to tell me about it. He was fine he said, he didn’t have a scratch on him, but his car was totaled. While I was hearing him tell me this news I began to cry – not about the good news that he was well and all that was lost was his car – but for what could have been. And then I quickly realized I needed to rejoice, not cry. My handsome wonderful son is still here with us whole and well – and we began to joke that his car, lovingly called Stanley, a Ford Focus, saved him.

I was even more elated when I saw him in person last night – two nights post accident – and he still says he does not have one ache or pain any where as a result of all the punishment he and his car took from being hit three times. Needless to say I couldn't hug him enough. 

My Ben has always seemed to find folks to care for him, and this time was no exception. A woman stopped her vehicle so no one would pass until Ben was safely at the side of the road; a military man in full dress uniform stopped his car, came over to Ben to ask if he was all right, and then walked the width of the freeway to direct traffic, and others got out of their cars and began to help anyway they could. Even once he was at the gas station where the car was towed, he ran into a neighbor – someone who lives in the same apartment building – just at the right time to get a ride home.  

Stanley, the Ford Focus, that sacrificed its life 

so Ben could walk away unscathed 

will be forever in our hearts

This accident couldn’t help but remind me that Ben was in another very serious accident in Morocco soon after he graduated from Berkeley in 1996. He was on a tour of the Sahara Desert and the driver, who was speeding, lost control of his vehicle. The car rolled over five times and Ben ended up with head lacerations that needed ten stitches, and a broken shoulder, ring finger, and thumb – another miracle that he didn’t suffer any more damage. The driver left the scene of the accident (as did the driver who caused Ben’s accident this week), but stoppers by cared for him on the side of the road until medical help arrived.

We had to arrange for his transport home when he was well enough to travel through Casablanca and New York. His traveling companion accompanied him as far as Casablanca, and we asked Paul to meet him in New York and help him to his flight to Los Angeles. Paul was relatively well at that time – in between manic episodes – but seeing Ben in such a debilitated state, unshaven and dirty, barely able to move, and with bandages on his head, his arm in a sling and his fingers taped up took its toll on Paul. Ben had always been the strong, athletic brother. Paul was shocked when he saw him. Very shortly afterward, Paul had another manic episode, and we had to bring him back to Manhattan Beach – for the last time.           

So, I rejoice again for the miracles that took care of Ben through both events and for those who cared for him. What Marissa, his bride beautifully said, is so meaningful, “Your son is divinely protected and he has lots of incredible things to do on this planet. I love him so much and I wanted to thank you both for putting him here.”

I wrote a poem for Ben on his twenty-fifth birthday that celebrates his specialness. It rings even more true today.

For Ben on Your 25th Birthday

Only suckling or

holding you against

my belly and breasts would quiet you.

Not even your thumbs

(you did not care which) 

eased your cries

in those first few months.

When finally the crying stopped you emerged

determined to take on the world.

That Benjamin, we called you.

“Look, I can ride a 2-wheeler

and I’m only 3,” you shouted

with pale hair like fine corn silk

flying and huge hazel eyes

seeing nothing but the road.

You lived your young life in competition

reading the most books,

writing the most journal pages,

earning the most As,

running the fastest 10K,

collecting the most Garbage Pail Kids

and hitting the best

backhand down the line.

You loved the pressure

It made you nervous

(I said excited)

It was your fuel

You had to be the best.

Your tennis consumed you and me

We drove miles and miles

You in your trademark baseball cap

battled your opponents while

I battled freeway phobia.

Not quite 8, you overcame 1 to 6

in a 2nd set tie break

to win your first championship trophy.

They called you “Iceman” as

you cooly walked off the court.

It was not all serious.

You wrote the scripts and then filmed

Andy, Dan, Cam, Josh or Brad

walking down the long hall,

gun in hand,

ready to pounce on the next victim

or pretend to throw him over the deck

In every film someone went

over the deck.

For such a gentle, sweet boy,

you sure loved violence.

You also loved to mimic

McEnroe’s serve

Kline’s “k-k-k-ken”

Hoffman’s “I’m an excellent driver”

and the Three Amigos.

You made us snicker

when you called someone

an emma, a foof, a donkey, a nick

or cute and funny and silly and nice.

But I was most charmed when you

touched my face and said,

“your cheeks are nice and soft, are mine?”

or “come sleep with me for a minute”

when I would wake you

to get ready for school.

Little did I know that

that early play acting

was practice for your passion.

Arms uplifted, legs spread wide

Speaking in a loud, deep voice that comes

from the bottom of your belly

your presence fills the stage.

Lean, firm body

enclosed in a skin-tight suit

the color of a ripe peach

Finger and toe nails painted wine red

like the deep stain on your lips

Hair sticking up like the spokes of a bike

you cartwheel across the floor

You are now where you most want to be.

As your high school teacher said

you have the world on a string.

Keep a tight hold

It’s all yours for the taking

Just like you willed yourself to be

taller than your dad

You will be a success someday

in whatever you choose to do.

Happy 25th birthday, Ben.

Love, Mommy