Synopsis

Bibba is a true story about my mother, who, along with my loving father, raised four children. Bibba, was a nickname inadvertently given to my mother by my older brother. Her real name was Vera and she was in her late 80's when I began this book. I did not write it with the intent on her reading it; in fact, she never will. She never accepted the things she had done in the past; nor made any apologies for the impact those things had on those of us who loved her. I did not write this book for her. I wrote it for the other members of my family, as well as a few friends and former psychiatrists who found her to be a woman who lived an extra ordinary life of abuse, infidelities and mental illness. I was told by a prominent psychiatrist that one doesn’t generally live long with a paranoid-schizophrenic condition and the fact that she did would qualify her to be in the medical journals.
She was strong willed, determined, confident, classy and unfortunately, was dealt a bad hand. She was, however, blessed with four children who remained loyal and by her side despite it all. The story tells of the heroism of her two oldest children and their efforts to keep the family intact.
Bibba begins with her returning home by bus after picking up her prescriptions from Madigan Army Hospital on a hot mid-day in August. She converses with voices in her head until she lays down to take a nap and falls to sleep dreaming about the place she was born. It is from that point that the story takes on its form and covers a time period between 1940 to 2019.
The story gives a shocking account of battered husband syndrome, a subject that even in the 21st Century remains somewhat taboo, as well as child abuse. Bibba sends you through an emotional flurry of the anger and disgust surrounding her obsession with power and control to the sad, but powerful revelations of love and forgiveness in the end.
Of course, there is no way to write about growing up during the tumultuous, iconic 1960’s and ‘70’s without including the many historical events that occurred and, in many ways, shaped America.

Sales arguments

• It shares the family dynamics , culture and traditions of an African-American military famliy.
• Recalls the historic, societal events that occurred during the 1960-1970's that helped shape America.
• Gives first hand accounts of mental illness, particularly paranoid schizophrenia ,affective personality disorder and obsessive compulsiveness.
• It delves into an unbeleivable and intense reality of child abuse and battered husband syndrome.
• It shares the complicated and profound choice of forgiveness , the uncondionality of love, the hatred associated with misunderstanding and the journey towards the end of life. It is also about loss and the overwhelming ebbs and flow of grief

Audience

Readers who have knowledge, interset and/or experience in the dynamics of mental illness, the taboo subject of the battered husband syndrome, child abuse and the struggles of forgiveness and , ultimately, the pain of loss, grief and healing will find this book captivating.

Advance praise

To all of the therapists and professionals who inspired me to memorialize my experience.