Shadows on the Porch: A Cleveland memoir of survival and three generations of mental illness

This book is not for the faint of heart. Welcome to Beverly's world. Shadows on the Porch opens with a searing inside look into the unpredictable disruptions of growing up with a schizophrenic parent, builds to the heartbreak of institutionalizing a schizophrenic child, and closes with the reconnection with a distant father. There are calm, normal periods, unpredictable explosions, abrupt trips to the hospital, frequent and jarring moves, shame dealing with neighbors, and shifting periods of despair. This incredible story also includes her grandparents' immigration to Ohio, decades of hard work, murder, suicide, family disruption, and Beverly's first marriage to an abusive alcoholic. As she relates one gut-wrenching event after another, how Beverly finds a way to survive is often what seems most amazing.