Leaving the Hall Light On

Praise for "Leaving the Hall Light On"

More Reviews

"The courage and strength of will it took to write this book is matched by the superb writing, the clarity of emotional insight, and the uplifting music of its brave prose." - Jack Grapes, author of The Naked Eye and Method Writing

"Brave and Gritty. Innovative. Resourceful. Inspiring. Sure to increase your understanding and compassion for others in turmoil." - Sharon Lippincott, Story Circle Network Reviews

"I recommend this book to not only those who lost a child or who struggle with the mental illness of a child, but to anyone at all who wants a deep, intimate read where the author bares her soul and lets you into her world!" - Bonni Rubinstein, Organizer of the Facebook group "Loss of an Adult or Young Adult Child"

"A poetically visceral, emotionally honest account of the author's experience with her son's bipolar disorder, his suicide, and her family's grief and adaptation to their terrible loss. I will be a better, more empathic psychiatrist, and a better person and friend after having read this extraordinary memoir." - Irvin D. Godofsky, M.D.

"Leaving the Hall Light On left me in tears. It is a heart-wrenching book; I could not put it down. Anyone who wants to learn how to live with children or adults with bipolar disorder, must read this book." - Mary Barrett, The Nashville (Illinois) News

"I would recommend this book to suicide survivors, and I also invite mental health professionals to read it. I would be willing to bet that Madeline Sharples is much more honest about what it is like to survive suicide than most patients and clients allow themselves to be." - Fran Edstrom, the American Association of Suicidology

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From the Author: Why I included photos, poems, and quotes in my memoir

One of the first reviewers of my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, said, "....The poetry and photographs add an extra dimension that is missing from most memoirs like this since as a reader you get much closer to the reality of what is being described on the page...." (Mark Shelmerdine, CEO, Jeffers Press). Another reviewer said my book is "poetically visceral." Those statements helped validate any misgivings I had in adding other creative works into my manuscript.

I really hadn't thought of putting photos in my book until my publisher suggested it. And of course I was delighted. At first she suggested photos interspersed within the chapters, but my book didn't lend itself to that. So I picked out photos in groups: of my son Paul - the main subject of the book, of him and his brother, family photos, views of my office, garden, and one of the memorials to Paul - a bench dedicated to him on the greenbelt outside our home. At the time I had no idea what an impact these photos would have on the message of the book. However, I was then reading Keith Richard's memoir, Life. It has two photo sections. And I kept going back to these photos as I got to know more about the characters in his book.

Inserting my poems was another story. I never even considered leaving them out. They were instrumental in my book's organization. I had journal entries and other writings to draw from and a poetry manuscript, and I arranged my book's chapters according the order of the poems in my poetry manuscript. However, I still worried about what others would think. So many agents state that they don't look at poetry. A memoir workshop instructor didn't like the idea. However, one of the people who had read my poems several years ago now says he can relate to them better because of their context in the story. The bottom line is: I was fortunate to find a publisher who not only liked the poems I had in the book, but asked for more.

Because I collect quotes - I usually note them down when I read, and I continually post them on my Facebook author page - I decided to insert three quotes in my book- two from books and one from a song. And that turned out to be the biggest problem in finally getting my book to print. Since I felt they were integral to my story I was adamant, but it took months to get the necessary permissions (see my Red Room blog posts dated September 15, September 29, and November 13, 2010 -redroom.com/member-blog/madeline40/). The main lesson is: if you want to include other authors' words in your book, start getting permission early.

All in all I felt it was well worth the extra time it took to include other works in my memoir. My writing is very personal and I feel the photos, poems, and quotes helped deepen the personal message of my words.
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Selected Reader Reviews:

"No one wants to go through challenges or difficulties. We don't welcome them, but I was able to see through this book how they help us sometimes become the person we were meant to be--if only we allow them to be true teachable moments. We can grieve, we can hurt, but we have to push forward towards the healing. If we can do that then we can become a source of strength and inspiration for others. Delivered with passion and fueled by love, Leaving the Hall Light On speaks to what it means to live when living isn't always easy." Cyrus Webb, "Conversations Book Club," July 3, 2013

"A heart-breaking story told with straightforward grace and resilience, Madeline Tasky Sharples' Leaving the Hall Light On will educate you, and leave you with lots to consider. But the memoir isn't just about her son's death. It's about how she survived--without becoming an alcoholic, or a drug addict. Without destroying her marriage. She finds a way. It's not easy, and Sharples definitely doesn't live in denial. She writes her truth with straight-shooting accountability, showing her struggles and her small triumphs. She neither suppresses her memory of her son, nor does she wallow in her grief. She is an example for us all." Laura Dennis, author of Adopted Reality, A Memoir, June 11, 2013