Jean McGarry pulls no punches about her own failures, misgivings, torments, fears, and thrills as she bares her soul in a kind, daring, and at the same time, entertaining memoir of a life well-lived. Best known as the author of novels and short stories, including her prize-winning 2006 novel A Bad & Stupid Girl, McGarry breaks new ground with this brave and revealing memoir of a life originally grounded in Catholicism. It is a tale of how she survived, not completely unscathed but intact.

Her tale as a fiction writer will give solace to budding writers on how torturous the journey may be to arrive at the summit of a successful writing career.