Catherine Gildiner Book order

"Catherine Gildiner is a bestselling memoirist, a novelist, and a psychologist who practiced privately for 25 years. This book focuses on five brave men and women who overcame enormous trauma--in her view, heroes who should be celebrated. With a novelist's storytelling gift, Gildiner recounts the details of her patients' struggles and their paths to recovery and weaves in her own tale of her growth as a psychologist. In therapy, patients have to become vulnerable by stripping away their defenses, but so do therapists, who cannot hide behind a title, a desk, or even their specialized knowledge. The five cases described include a successful but lonely musician suffering sexual dysfunction; a young woman who, at the age of eight, had looked after her two siblings after her father, likely a murderer, abandoned them in a rural cottage; a glamorous workaholic whose wealthy, hideously negligent mother had greeted her each morning with "Good Morning, Monster"; an indigenous man who'd suffered greatly at a residential school; and a young woman whose abuse at the hands of her father led to a severe personality disorder. Each patient presents a mystery at first, one that will only be unpacked over years. They arrive, sometimes unwillingly, to try to overcome an immediate challenge in their lives, but discover that the source of their suffering is an entirely different matter. It will take courage to face those realities, and it requires creativity and resourcefulness from their therapist. Each patient embodies the virtues of self-reflection, stoicism, perseverance, and forgiveness as they confront the real source of their problems and work unflinchingly to face the truth. Gildiner's account of her journeys with them is moving and insightful and sometimes humorous. It offers a behind-the-scenes look into the therapist's office and explains how the process can heal even the most unimagineable wounds."-- Provided by publisher

Now in trade paper Written with the same spirit and wit as the bestselling Too Close to the Falls and After the Falls, Coming Ashore is the third and final volume of Catherine Gildiner’s memoir series. Picking up her story in the late ’60s at age 21, Cathy whisks through seven years and three countries. Whether reciting verse in the classrooms of the University of Oxford, arranging a date with Jimi Hendrix, teaching inner city kids literature, rooming with a major drug dealer, falling in love, or working in a psychiatric hospital, Cathy determinedly blazes her own trail through all the passion and uncertainty that comes with the cusp of adulthood. Coming Ashore transports readers to a fascinating era populated by lively characters, but most memorable of all is the singular Cathy McClure. The BackLit bonus content includes a reader’s guide, Q&A with the author, and more.

Set in 1960, the story follows twelve-year-old Cathy McClure, who faces the consequences of her rebellious actions after being expelled from Catholic school. Seeking a fresh start, her family relocates from Niagara Falls to suburban Buffalo, where Cathy navigates the shifting landscape of America in the 1960s. Amidst her adventures as a vandal, HoJo hostess, and civil rights demonstrator, she confronts personal tragedy, leading her to embrace her most challenging role yet. This sequel blends humor and poignancy in Cathy's journey of growth.

Set against the backdrop of a decade-long prison sentence, the story follows Kate Fitzgerald as she navigates the harsh realities of incarceration. She has developed coping mechanisms to survive, such as immersing herself in her own thoughts and avoiding connections with other inmates. However, her experiences have also taught her that trust is a dangerous commodity, especially when it comes to the prison psychiatrist, hinting at deeper psychological themes and the struggle for survival in a hostile environment.

The extraordinary and moving true story of a modern girl trapped in a gentler age...It is the mid-1950s in Lewiston, a sleepy town near Niagara Falls, famous only for the invention of the cocktail. Divorce is unheard of, mothers wear high heels to the beauty salon and television has only just arrived. But with no siblings to provide role-models; a workaholic father chosen by most of her class as Lewiston's present-day saint; a mother who looks the part of the perfect 50s housewife but refuses to play it; and a gambling-obsessed best friend, Roy, who is 30 years older, perhaps it's hardly surprising that Cathy grows up a little eccentric. Especially considering that the family doctor's prescription for her hyperactivity is a full-time job in her father's pharmacy - at four.Cathy is rarely out of trouble whether it's asking why seeing Elvis below the waist is a sin, stabbing the school bully with a compass, or delivering Nembutal to Marilyn Monroe. And her highly unusual adventures, set against a hilarious backdrop of conventional smalltown life, make for compulsive reading.