Munchausen's
and Me
A true story of betrayal and a
shocking family secret
Helen Naylor
25th November 2021,
Thread Available in Paperback Original, ebook & Audio
There was a time when I loved my mother. It’s shocking to imply that I stopped loving my mum because mothers always love their children and always do their best for them. Mothers are supposed to be good. But my mother wasn’t good.
Ten years ago, Helen Naylor discovered her mother, Elinor, had been faking debilitating illnesses for thirty years. After Elinor’s self-induced death, Helen found her diaries, which Elinor wrote daily for over fifty years. The diaries reveal not only the inner workings of Elinor’s twisted mind and self-delusion, but also shocking revelations about Helen’s childhood.
Everything Helen knew about herself and her upbringing was founded on a lie. The unexplained accidents and days spent entirely on her own as a little girl, imagining herself climbing into the loft and disappearing into a different world, tell a story of neglect. As a teenager, her mother’s advice to Helen on her body and mental health speaks of dangerous manipulation.
With Elinor’s behaviour becoming increasingly destructive, and Helen now herself a mother, she was left with a stark choice: to collude with Elinor’s lies or be accused of abandoning her.
My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me is a heart-breaking, honest and brave account of a daughter unravelling the truth about her mother and herself. It’s a story of a stolen childhood, mental illness, and the redemptive power of breaking a complex and toxic bond.
There was a time when I loved my mother. It’s shocking to imply that I stopped loving her because mothers always love their children and always do their best for them. Mothers are supposed to be
My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me is a heart-breaking, honest and brave account of a daughter unravelling the truth about her mother and herself. It’s a story of a stolen childhood, mental illness, and the redemptive power of breaking a complex and toxic bond.
Helen Naylor has been writing as a hobby since she was a small child, but it wasn’t until she began a memoir about growing up with a mother who faked illnesses and had narcissistic personality traits that she was encouraged to pursue writing professionally. Helen lives in Nottingham with her husband, two children and cat, and enjoys playing guitar, drinking good coffee and cycling.
UK: zpr.io/n2sNqBtA3ghB
US: zpr.io/sYZSCCpfpES2
First, I want to thank Helen Naylor and Thread Books for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review.
WOW!! Helen Naylor is incredibly brave to share her personally raw and eye opening story in My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me. It is an incredibly interesting book on how this disease affects everyone in the family.
The Graphic Designers for Thread Books did an amazing job with the cover graphic. It showed Helen as a young girl with her Mom.
Helen wanted to write this book for her children who were too young to understand what her Mother was going through at the time.
I can’t imagine how Helen dealt with all the mental and emotional abuse growing up.
Literally I was blown away by this book as it was an incredible story! If you are like me and love medical books like I do this is the book for you.
Helen is so grateful for her husband and her friends for standing by her through her Mother’s lives and love and care for her after. They were the ones who got her through this.
We the reader’s got a glimpse into Elinor’s mindset via her diary entries. Reading them gave us a more personal look into how she was feeling and thinking.
There were things that Elinor said and did that left me totally speechless and in shock! She totally boggled my mind on many different occasions. My heart went out to Helen so many times!
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