Everyday At Home

#StayHome

Inferno: A Memoir by Catherine Cho

Paperback: My psychosis, for all its destruction and wrath, was a love story. - Catherine Cho

When Catherine left London for the US with her husband James, to introduce her family to their newborn son, she could not have envisaged how that trip would end. Catherine would find herself in an involuntary psych ward in New Jersey, separated from her husband and child, unable to understand who she was, and how she had got there.

It is difficult to know where the story of psychosis begins.

Was it the moment I met my son?

Or was it decided in the before, something rooted deeper in my fate, generations ago?

In an attempt to hold on to her sense of self, Catherine had to reconstruct her life, from her early childhood, to a harrowing previous relationship, and her eventual marriage to James.

The result is a powerful exploration of psychosis and motherhood, at once intensely personal, yet holding within it a universal experience – of how we love, live and understand ourselves in relation to each other.

Inferno (2020) is an unadulterated and highly accomplished memoir by a debut writer/literary agent.

About the author: Catherine Cho grew up in Kentucky and Virginia. She studied English Literature at New York University. After graduating from university, she took a detour into corporate law and received her JD from the University of Hong Kong. She worked in public affairs before pursuing a career in publishing.

Catherine is currently a Literary Agent specialising in adult fiction and non-fiction. She is also the Digital Rights Manager overseeing digital strategy at Madeleine Milburn Ltd. A believer in the power of story, Catherine is passionate about discovering new voices. She currently lives in London.

Two Weeks Behind The Fridge

Stay Home by Wendell Berry

The Recovery Of Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

Hardback: Rose Gold Watts believed she was sick for eighteen years.

She thought she needed the feeding tube, the surgeries, the wheelchair...

Turns out her mother is a really good liar.

After five years in prison, Patty Watts is finally free. All she wants is to put old grievances behind her, reconcile with the daughter who testified against her - and care for her new infant grandson.

When Rose Gold agrees to have Patty move in, it seems their relationship is truly on the mend. And she has waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

But is she still the pliable young girl she once was? And is Patty still as keen on settling an old score?

Because if mothers never forget then daughters never forgive.

The Recovery of Rose Gold (2020) is a gripping tale of obsession, reconciliation and revenge from an incredible new talent in 2020's must-read thriller.

About the author: Stephanie Wrobel was born and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in the United States. A voracious reader as a child and a later fascination with language led to work as a copywriter at various advertising agencies. She has an MFA from Emerson College, has had short fiction published in Bellevue Literary Review, and was nominated for the 2018 PEN/Robert J Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. After a move to the UK in 2014, she set to work writing The Recovery of Rose Gold. She now lives in London - with her husband and dog, Moose Barwinkle - where she writes full-time.

Rating: 4/5

Christ Vere Latitat

Some Form Of Isolation

On A Positive Note (Miriam Escofet)

Blessed

Our Lady Of Silence: The Devotion of Pope Francis by Fr Emiliano Antenucci

Paperback: In the Vatican offices, placed in pride of place, is a relatively unknown Marian icon in which our Blessed Mother has her finger pressed to her lips. Commissioned and gifted to the Holy Father by Capuchin Friar Fr Emiliano Antenucci, this icon is known as Our Lady of Silence, a Marian devotion which promotes the importance of silence.

This devotion symbolises much of what is important to Pope Francis, such as not speaking ill of others, and the value of listening to God in the silence of our hearts. By embracing this devotion, we can embrace these values which are so dear to the Holy Father.

This booklet offers an introduction to this devotion, as Fr Antenucci himself explains the history of this icon and its importance. A rich selection of devotions to Our Lady of Silence follows, helping us to recall the importance of thinking about what we are saying, welcoming silence, and enabling us to pray this devotion along with the Holy Father.

About the author: Fr Emiliano Antenucci is a Capuchin from Vasto, Italy. He is an author and retreat leader specialising in the spirituality of Christian silence.

Broken Faith: Inside The Word Of Faith Fellowship, One Of America's Most Dangerous Cults by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr

Hardback: An explosive investigation into Word of Faith Fellowship, a secretive evangelical cult whose charismatic female leader is a master of manipulation

In 1979, Jane Whaley, a fiery preacher with a thick Southern drawl, attracted a small group of followers - twenty-two men and women drawn in by her passion, and promise that through prayer and deliverance, they could turn their lives around.

In the years since, Whaley's following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. In the eyes of her followers, she is a prophet - to disobey her means eternal damnation. It could also mean hours of physical abuse. The control she exerts is absolute: she decides what her followers study, where they work, whom they can marry - even when they can have sex.

Broken Faith (2020) is the meticulously reported story of a singular female cult leader, a terrifying portrait of life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Broken Faith offers both a cautionary tale and a deeply emotional examination of faith, resilience, and family. It is the story of an entire community's descent into darkness - and for some, the winding journey back to the light.

Broken Faith (2020) is a PopSugar Best True Crime Book of 2020.

About the authors: Mitch Weiss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press and the coauthor of numerous books, most recently The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima. He lives in South Carolina.

Holbrook Mohr is an award-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press. He has covered natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, judicial bribery schemes, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and mass shootings. He lives in Mississippi.

Writers And Lovers

"Just A Present For A Friend," She Explained