Q&A in WESTMOUNTMAG.ca

“Without sugar-coating, Susan Grundy recounts the emotional roller-coaster of caring for her older sister after the teen is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Beautifully written, Mad Sisters, breaks your heart only to lift it moments later, as Grundy’s actions reveal the havoc caused by a serious mental disorder, the horrific toll it takes and a sister’s unyielding and abiding love. An indispensable book for those of us who love someone with a mental illness.” – New York Times bestselling author Pete Earley, whose book Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

“Mad Sisters is a raw and honest memoir that bravely confronts and unpacks complex family dynamics, traumatic experiences, and the unbreakable bond between siblings. It’s an emotional rollercoaster of a read, and well worth the ride.” – Mark Henick, Principal & CEO of Mental Health Media, author of So-Called Normal: A Memoir of Family, Depression and Resilience and international keynote speaker on mental health recovery

“With Mad Sisters, Susan Grundy gives a moving testimony to love, sisterhood, and stick-to-it-iveness, conveying her sister Nancy’s lifelong struggles — including an endless stream of hospitalizations and psych drugs, and all their many harms — with a raw, insightful honesty that brings both of them vividly to life. Their relationship is complex, and their story isn’t easy, but the bond between them is tangible and inspiring. The result is a powerful ode to human resilience.” – Amy Biancolli, author and former family editor for Mad in America, an organization with the mission to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care

“In the gripping and heart-wrenching memoir, Mad Sisters author Susan Grundy weaves a powerful story of two sisters bound by love, torn by despair and obligation, and tested by the unyielding hardships of mental illness. I laughed. I cried. Sisters Nancy and Susan are inseparable, their bond a forcefield of hope through the blackest times. As Nancy grapples with the volatility of her inner demons, Susan stands steadfastly by her side, their relationship a testament to unbreakable familial love despite fear, rage, and the powerlessness of never being enough while confronting the symptoms of schizophrenia. Laced with humour and a dogged need to stay connected as sisters, the book delves deep into the near-impossible daily struggles family members face, revealing the devastating lifetime impact of Nancy’s condition on all their lives. With raw honesty, Susan Grundy exposes the gaping holes in the medical system and the often catastrophic imperfections of medications that promise stability but deliver inconsistency. Their journey is one of resilience, navigating a labyrinth of hope and hopelessness, understanding and misunderstanding. Mad Sisters is a poignant exploration of the human spirit, an unflinching look at the realities of mental illness, and a powerful reminder of the enduring strength of sisterhood. This compelling narrative will leave readers reflecting on the importance of compassion, and the need for systemic change.” – Susan Doherty, author of the award-winning The Ghost Garden and Monday Rent Boy

“An insightful account of the challenges faced when caring for a sibling with a mental health condition.” – Michael Shann, Carers UK

“I finished reading Susan Grundy’s memoir with tears in my eyes. Lifelong responsibilities to support her ill sister – mostly as her primary caregiver – have not compromised her unswerving commitment and unabated compassion, despite sometimes feeling frustration, resentment, and sometimes hate. Mental illness can be difficult to forgive when behaviour towards your closest caregivers becomes inexcusably harsh; yet she remains her sister’s mainstay through stormy and turbulent times. Susan’s memoir, oscillating between past and present, opens a window into a life marked by the pain and travails evoked by mental illness. Growing up in a volatile household, she became the good girl, though she vacillated between the desire for freedom from responsibilities and the guilt she knew that would bring. Being a young carer without recognizing it, Susan was subjected to the inevitable impact of mental illness that ravaged her sister’s life starting at thirteen. Taking on her sister’s physical ailments as if they were her own and bearing the associated stresses, Susan became her ultimate protector, accepting her lot with uncanny generosity. While Susan does not often lash out at the healthcare system, there is an implicit message that needs to be heard: mental illness is a ‘family affair’; an imperfect, fragmented healthcare system victimizes not only the diagnosed member but their entire entourage.” – Ella Amir, C.M., PhD, MBA, Executive Director, AMI-Québec, Allies in Mental Health

“Susan Grundy’s older sister saved her from drowning in childhood, forging an unbreakable bond between them. Now, as they navigate middle age, Susan feels an unyielding duty to reciprocate. With their parents unable or unavailable to support a daughter with chronic mental illness, Susan takes on the mantle of Nancy’s protector and advocate. She battles a mental health system fraught with gaps and ineffective, sometimes dangerous, treatments. She struggles with personal questions that haunt her day and night: Where do her responsibilities begin and end? Is she fostering dependence or nurturing the independence they both crave? This poignant, finely drawn narrative alternates between vivid childhood memories and the sisters’ tumultuous adult lives. The author captures the full spectrum of their emotions: jealousy and gratitude, grief and joy, exasperation and acceptance, resentment and reconciliation. Seemingly insurmountable dilemmas dissolve into laughter under Susan’s relentless prodding and Nancy’s sharp wit. By the book’s end, you’ll want to envelop them both in a heartfelt embrace. Susan Grundy’s memoir is an important contribution to awareness and understanding of the impact of chronic mental illness on siblings.” – Deborah Kasdan, author of Roll Back the World: A Sister’s Memoircited as one of the 100 best Indie books of 2023 by Kirkus Reviews

“Susan Grundy’s tender memoir tells of her decades long struggle to love and care for her older sister Nancy, diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 13, who can be in turn infuriating, heartbreaking and endearing. Full of stories told with empathy both for Nancy and for herself, this is a family saga you won’t want to put down.” – Vikki Stark, author of My Sister, My Self: The Surprising Ways that Being an Older, Younger, Middle or Twin Shaped Your Life

Through evocative personal stories, Susan Grundy compassionately explores the devastating consequences of her older sister’s severe mental illness. Her diagnosis of schizophrenia at age thirteen eventually leads their disheartened parents to move away to start a new life and to the jarring progression of Susan from a free-spirited little sister into a trapped caregiver.

Susan, candidly and with brave honesty, describes the caregiver push-pull whirlpool where she alternates between fury at her sister’s resentful and jealous moods and being flooded with sympathy and guilt – why her and not me? But still, Susan is unable to step away. This memoir, slipping back and forth in chronology, underlines how the past infuses the present. The sisters’ journey is woven with resilience and humour and radiates with the potential for well-being and hope despite the collateral damage of a mental illness.

Mad Sisters passionately sounds the alarm about the ongoing lack of resources in the mental health care system. This memoir heartbreakingly sheds light on the burdened family caregiver – the “invisible healthcare partner.” Susan spotlights the less common theme of the sibling caregiver and the resulting complexity of skewed family roles.