THE FULL CATASTROPHE

Walsh recounts her quest for love, acceptance, and family in this memoir.

As a child, the author lost both of her parents; as she got older, her other relatives seemed to pass away in quick succession. Forced to confront such trauma at a young age, Walsh struggled to adjust as best as she could—yet she craved a true family and the unconditional love that comes along with it. In the early 1970s, she married Will Simonson and thought she’d found her true love. The couple quickly built their family, first with two boys, Eric and Kyle, and later a daughter, Kate. It soon became apparent, however, that Walsh and her spouse were not a match made in heaven as, per the author, Will’s drinking habit intensified (along with his lies). Throughout her suffering marriage, Walsh tried to make things work, noting, “It’s nearly impossible to untangle the web created by my need for family and fear of living a lifetime alone.” Unfortunately, in the 1990s, things only worsened: Walsh and her husband divorced and the kids were caught between them. The author describes Will’s unwillingness to discipline and how he used this laissez-faire attitude to gain his children’s favor; Kate, still young, turned against her mother, and a hostile custody battle ensued. Meanwhile, Kyle was not doing well in school, and Eric, who declined to go to college and later enlisted in the Navy, could not seem to make his life work. When Eric died and Walsh found herself, once again, facing an onslaught of grief, she and her family tried to pick up the pieces. In this memoir, the author is unflinchingly honest and vulnerable, examining her deep well of trauma-induced loneliness and her desperate love for her children. She devotes equal time to her struggles (like Eric facing a sexual assault charge) and to her successes (such as her new career as a speech pathologist). Walsh’s prose is accessible and heartfelt, and she lays her grief and adversity all out on the table for readers while maintaining as optimistic an outlook as possible.

A stirring and relatable portrait of a struggling family.