Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery [Hardcover]

A 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 endure when her sister's disease becomes the dark star around which they all revolve.

“A story for anyone who has refused to give up on someone, including themselves. . . . With her ever-expanding heart, she helps us find the words for unspeakable grief and the map to forgiveness.” —Connie Schultz, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

Broke my heart and renewed my belief in the triumph of the human spirit . . . Told in the evocative, crystal-clear prose of a writer with a feminist sensibility and the wisdom accrued from living a full life, Casey’s family story is one I’ll fondly recall long after other memoirs will have faded from my memory.” —Wally Lamb,New York Timesbestselling author ofShe’s Come UndoneandI Know This Much Is True

“Candid, eloquent, emotionally engaging, intellectually thought-provoking, exceptionally well-written, organized, and presented.” —Midwest Book Review

“Vulnerable, raw writing . . . a profoundly detailed, poignant read. —Kirkus Reviews

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.

Set in Buffalo amidst the tumult of the 1960s and 70s, Saving Ellen traces the author's recovery from alcoholism and ló2