memoir Archives

My Time to Stand

Killer or Victim or Both? Author: Gypsy-Rose Blanchard The story of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard has created a cultural awareness (and many fictional accounts) of Munchausen by proxy: a syndrome where a caretaker fabricates an illness for the person under their care to get fame or attention. At the age of 23, Gypsy rebelled, conspiring with a secret boyfriend she made online to murder her mother and escape the cycle of abuse. The case led to many allegations (and lots of spinoff media, from Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects to the Hulu series “The Act.”) Gypsy claimed that her mother abused her, that her [...]

Frances Carden2026-01-28T18:06:51-07:00January 28th, 2026|Tags: Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, memoir, true crime|

Committed

The Failures of the Mental Health System and the Heartbreak of Caregiving Author: Poalina Milana Committed: bound or obligated to a person or thing, as by pledge or assurance; devoted. ~ Dictionary.com The term “committed to a mental institution” refers to a formal commitment of a person to a mental health facility by a court or other lawful authority. This includes involuntarily committing a person for treatment due to mental illness, mental defectiveness, or other reasons such as drug or alcohol abuse. Importantly, it does not include admission for observation or voluntary admission to a mental institution ~ Law Insider All [...]

Frances Carden2025-12-10T17:23:51-07:00December 10th, 2025|Tags: book review, Committed, memoir, mental illness, read, reading, schizophrenia|

My Year of Really Bad Dates

The Dangers and Heartaches of Dating Author: Rachel J. Lithgow Let’s be honest: movies and TV lie, because dating at any age is horrible. For Rachel, it’s insult added to injury. She is recently divorced and recovering from essentially being her depressive husband’s around-the-clock caretaker and his verbally abusive family’s favorite punching bag. She’s broken and finally seeking a relationship that gives instead of only taking. Even worse, the man who was her touchstone after the divorce, her on-again off-again ex-boyfriend Joe, is leaving her to move to another state with another woman, a blonde real-estate agent with a “live-laugh-love” vibe. [...]

Frances Carden2025-10-21T14:49:42-07:00October 21st, 2025|Tags: book review, dating, dating after 50, dating after divorce, memoir, online dating, read, reading|