£5.00
175 in stock
By Rebecca King
ISBN: 978-1-84991-297-6
Published: 2010
Pages: 155
Key Themes: diary, memoir, fiction, dissociative identity disorder
Description
This memoir, Diary of a Mixed Up Chick, follows the main character Faith as she drifts into a mental health breakdown. She is struggling to come to terms with the decline of her father to Alzheimer’s when she faces the trigger to her breakdown. Gradually she falls further and further into disarray as she is diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. During this time she experiences amnesia, discovers child parts she never knew existed and recovers raw memories of childhood abuse. It contains an original therapy journal that existed to communicate this abuse to her therapist. It also touches on alcohol abuse, depression, child protection and many other issues surrounding her diagnosis. More than this, it is a bittersweet love story.
About the Author
Rebecca King was born in Wimbledon, Surrey in 1968. As a child, she spent three years living in New Zealand. In 1976 the family settled in Norfolk and she has lived in and around here ever since. She is now living in Norwich with her partner Andrew and her three teenage children. She has had a variety of jobs from clerical to barmaid and she was an executive committee member for First Person Plural, a national survivor run support group for people who suffer dissociative distress and a board member for Involving Service Users, a mental health service user led involvement project. Rebecca is about to start an Open University course and likes to concentrate on her writing.
Book Extract
Chapter One – Late Summer 2002
The sun was setting on the horizon, a fiery scarlet ball. As it got lower it reflected a haze of pink onto the underbelly of the dark rain clouds, making shades of purple and lilac, promising heavy rain. The light was fading fast as Jenny dropped Faith off outside the chalet style house on the edge Melford Common.
‘I’m not sure that I should have come.’ Faith said, checking her appearance in the vanity mirror on the back of the sun visor.
‘Course you should, he’s always fancied you. He was really jealous that night you were with Ray.’
‘Was he really?’
‘Yes, now go on, you’ve been dithering for too long, go and have some fun, for a change.’
Faith climbed out of the navy blue Volvo estate and headed towards Darren’s front door. As she knocked and waited, she watched her friend driving away. She noticed that the car was thick with grime as if she had been throwing it round some distant rally track. She was nervous despite all the wine she had had with Jenny before she came. She felt the breeze whip up around her bare legs, catching her flimsy skirt so she had to brush it back down with her hand and hold it to her legs. She wondered whether there was a storm brewing. She hoped not as she glanced up at the dark clouds, bringing on the night shortly before it’s time.
Darren opened the front door and looked startled.
‘Faith, what are you doing here?’ He asked.
‘I just thought it would be nice to come and see you, are you going to invite me in?’
Jenny watched in her rear view mirror, a look of contempt coming over her face. She had been planning this for weeks and she almost wished she could hang around and see her friend being humiliated. Darren wasn’t going to want Faith now; she had made sure of that. Her focus returned to the road and she swerved, narrowly missing a car coming in the other direction. She kerbed the car, and pulled over. She saw a look of horror on the man’s face as he too swerved and slammed his foot on the brakes. Jenny was laughing so hard she could not drive. She just sat there, tears streaming down her cheeks as she laughed and laughed. Eventually she glanced up and saw the man in the other car giving her a strange look, so she pulled herself together. She put the car into first gear and pulled away, wishing once more that she could be there to see Faith’s downfall. Ah well she was sure she would hear about it soon enough. Jenny chuckled to herself, this was going to be well worth the wait.
Darren took Faith through to the front room and they sat on the sofa together, where he was watching a sci-fi movie. She already knew that they both watched Farscape, but that was as far as her love of science fiction went. He on the other hand seemed to be a staunch supporter, judging by the crap they were both being subjected to. The room was very tidy, not a thing out of place, and the thick cream curtains had already been drawn, shutting out the approaching rain.
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