Never Simple by Liz Scheier Advanced Readers Copy Edition ARC Nonfiction

Never Simple: A Memoir by Liz Scheier Advanced Readers Copy Edition (ARC) When Liz was 18, her mother dropped two bombshells. First, that she had been married for most of the previous two decades to a man Liz had never heard of and, second, that the man she had claimed was Liz's dead father was entirely fictional. She'd made him up-his name, the stories, everything. Those big lies were the start, but not the end. After all, other mothers didn't raise a child with no source of income, or hide their children behind fake Social Security numbers, or host giant parties in a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment only to throw raging tantrums when the door closed behind the guests. Now, decades later, armed with clues to her father's identity & her mothers dementia began revealing the truths she never intended to share- Liz attempts to uncover answers. Liz wrestles with questions of what we owe our parents even when they fail us, and of how to share her mother's hilarity, limitless love, and creativity with children-without passing down the trauma of her mental illness. Never Simple is the story of enduring the legacy of a hard-to-love parent with compassion, humor, and, ultimately, self-preservation. This gripping and darkly funny memoir "is a testament to the undeniable, indestructible love between a mother and a daughter" (Isaac Mizrahi). Never Simple book; LGBTQ mother daughter relationships family memoir dementia hidden lies truths galley advanced readers copy book ARC