{"product_id":"saving-ellen-maura-casey-9781510780774","title":"Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery","description":"\u003cb\u003eA coming-of-age memoir that follows a large, working-class Irish family as it plunges into chaos in the wake of a terminal diagnosis--and the author's own hidden struggle to \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eendure \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ewhen her sister's disease becomes the dark star around which they all revolve.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Financial privation and her father's drunken scenes formed the backdrop to Maura Casey's childhood, but her sister Ellen's years-long struggle with kidney disease consumed her whole family. Determined to see Ellen live to adulthood, her mother fought medical advice to donate a kidney at a time when organ transplants were medical miracles. She concealed the true impact of that decision, which would affect the family for years to come. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Set in Buffalo amidst the tumult of the 1960s and 70s, \u003ci\u003eSaving Ellen\u003c\/i\u003e traces the author's recovery from alcoholism and sexual assault and tells of her irrepressible older sister Ellen, who fought to claim her dream of becoming an athlete; her smart, feminist mother, whose World War II Army service prepared her to manage her own platoon of six children; and her adulterous, alcoholic father who, at the end, was haunted by his shortcomings and regrets. Despite the hard truths of her childhood, \u003ci\u003eSaving Ellen\u003c\/i\u003e is ultimately a story of humor at unexpected moments as well as the grace of reconciliation and gratitude. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eSaving Ellen \u003c\/i\u003ewill appeal to those who have endured the stress of caring for a chronically ill family member, with all the fraught choices that entails. Readers who have experienced the unique insanity of living in a large alcoholic family will recognize the mix of madness and humor that forms the foundation of daily life. Casey's story has parallels to Monica Wood's \u003ci\u003eWhen We Were the Kennedys\u003c\/i\u003e, which details the struggle her family began when her father died of a heart attack, and Jeannette Walls' \u003ci\u003eThe Glass Castle\u003c\/i\u003e, with its tale of family dysfunction and siblings trying to help one another cope in a dilapidated house with an unstable father.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Maura Casey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1510780777\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781510780774\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Skyhorse Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.02lbs","brand":"Maura Casey","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46526396596479,"sku":"9781510780774","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_c82f1d3e-464d-4fe3-8851-ca60275683e6.jpg?v=1737556065","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/saving-ellen-maura-casey-9781510780774","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}