Bright Eyes- A Memoir
Available Sept 24, 2024
Published by SheWrites Press Distributed by Simon & Schuster
"Fans of Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died will root for Bridey Thelen-Heidel as she struggles to unshackle herself from her mother’s chaos in this triumphant debut memoir."
"Bridey is tethered to her mom’s addiction to dangerous men who park their Harley-Davidsons in the house and kick holes in all their doors. Raised to be her mother’s keeper, rescuer, and punching bag, Bridey gets used to stuffing her life into black trash bags, hauling them between Alaska and California, and changing schools every time her mom moves in a new monster—or runs away from one.
Desperately seeking the normal life she’s observed in sitcoms and her friends’ families, Bridey earns her way into a fancy, private college where she tries to forget who she is—until her mom calls with a threat that drops Bridey to her knees. Watching doctors and police interrogate her mother at the hospital, Bridey realizes her mom has become a monster herself . . . and she doesn’t want to be saved.
But Bridey does.
Bright Eyes is about the indomitable spirit of a young girl forced to be brave, required to be resilient, and conditioned to be optimistic, and how she ultimately uses the same traits that helped her to survive her mother’s chaos to create her own happily-ever-after. "
"Thelen-Heidel's prose possesses both a charming warmth and a lyrical eye for the world around her.
'A gust of wind slaps sticks and small rocks against the mud stained in patterns on the stucco—some darker and some light— reminding me of the patterns of bruises we’ve tried to heal—some deep and some old. All stained...'
"...the young Bridey is such an irrepressible protagonist that it’s easy for the reader to find inspiration amid the squalor and heartache.
A deftly rendered portrait of a tragically toxic mother-daughter relationship." --Kirkus Reviews
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