Sharon World

Sharon World is a collection of stories and reflections on a life lived in the shadows of mental illness and addiction. My mother was a dancer with ballet grace and a mouth like a sailor. After two kids, a divorce and untreated bipolar disorder derailed her dreams, she succumbed to uncontrollable fits of rage, waves of depression and a crippling gambling addiction that ripped out pieces of my heart in casino chip-sized chunks. But this isn’t her story; it’s mine.

My home became the battlefield I navigated through a childhood filled with flowerpot projectile fights, Nova Scotian disappearances and 3:00 AM apologies. This memoir examines the evolution of my relationship with my mother over thirty years as I struggled to find my place in the world. Along the way, I held hands with a boy, got kicked out of summer camp for seeing the Devil, developed a taste for Nazi ice cream and met the girl who promised to love me forever in spite of it all.