Dale Zurawski
Bipolar a Gift of Thorns
Dale is seven when her abusive father dies on a secret mission working on missile guidance systems. Left with her four siblings and neglectful mother in a remote corner of New Mexico, Dale inherits her father’s complicated legacy of intelligence and instability.
After graduating college, she succeeds at a top-secret nuclear weapons lab while abusing drugs and engaging in promiscuous sex. Quick to anger, she changes from one career to another, juggling the technical challenges and her wild lifestyle. Once married, her husband develops life-threatening cancer. This awakens the past trauma of her father’s sudden death and sends her to find help from a psychiatrist.
Dale is unprepared when she is diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Her journey to control her manic episodes and anger outburst takes her through in-depth therapy and haphazard medication trials. In her final therapy session, Dale becomes her younger self and finds the strength to cope with the future.
Told with shocking honesty and unbelievable details, Bipolar, A Gift of Thorns is a deeply insightful memoir about a woman’s life and how it baffled her family. Exposing a little talked about problem, her courageous journey uncovers the stigma of being bipolar.
John Nimziki, award-winning filmmaker and
studio executive
"Courageous. Jarring. And stunningly candid. Rarely does one experience the bone-deep honesty of a well examined life, but that is precisely what debut author Dale Zurawski offers to readers in her powerful memoire, Bipolar a gift of thorns. Exceptional!"
Laura Taylor, six-time Romantic Times Writer Award winner
"A powerful, honest, and brave book that captures the essence of struggle and ultimately the strength needed to overcome some of life's biggest challenges. Raw and revelatory, Zurawski's journey with Bipolar disorder speaks to the gift of thorns within all of us."
Cherie Kephart, award-winning author of A Few Minor Adjustments
"Dale Zurawski's candid and compelling memoire of growing up with an abusive, bipolar father is essential reading for anyone living with bipolar disorder. This is a brave book about some of the darkest and unspoken aspects of our lives."
Don Weiss, award-winning editor for New York City literary agencies
