Resilience: Two Sisters and a Story of Mental Illness

Stick with this memoir—a brutal story of severe bipolar disorder, by the sister of actress Glenn Close, with author Earley. It start with the lifestyle of Jessie and Glenn's parents, who were seduced into joining the Moral Re-Armament (MRA) movement. They moved to an MRA compound near Mount Kisco, NY, then to an MRA house in Switzerland, where care of families was left to surrogates while parents were brainwashed into the cult. When Jessie could cut free, she did. She describes when the indulgences began and the downswings that followed, always fed by alcohol and drugs. As the pages progress, finally, the theme of resilience emerges, and Jessie realizes her almost-adult son also exhibits mental illness. She secures care for him and then seeks treatment for herself. Glenn is supportive, while their parents never see the damage done to their family. Jessie arises from the wreck with goals intact, life clean, and a strong will to make sure this doesn't happen to others.