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Editorial Review Product Description
Jill Byrne's inspirational memoir Step on a Crack shows how her indomitable spirit and sense of humor helped her survive childhood neglect, divorces, chronic and clinical depression, a psychotic episode, and a revolving door of therapists. Following her completion of the Hoffman Quadrinity Process, she removed the psychiatric gum from her shoe forever. In Step on a Crack, Jill tells of her recovery and offers hope to the millions in America who suffer from depression's anguish. ... Read more Customer Reviews (11) 
Overcoming Depression
The author is a product of an unwanted pregnancy (although her parents are married with a teenage daughter) and lives in the shadow of the knowledge she was unplanned and unwanted by her mother. She details the unfairness of her treatment in chronological order and includes incidences from both home and at school. I found this portion of the book laborious and unremarkable. It is far too easy for any person to revisit their childhood and recall how s/he was mistreated by parents, siblings, or children at school. I didn't find her mother's behavior exceedingly cruel - just thoughtless. However, the author offers explanation later in the book. She is not a child of horrific abuse, but a child who perceives that she is treated unfairly (which she probably is).
What makes Jill's story compelling is that she struggled with mental illness long before treatment was well researched (beyond Freudian psychotherapy) and having a therapist was taboo. Jill's struggle with depression is very real which makes her persistence even more remarkable. Her humor continues to provide the book with enjoyment and the reader finds herself drawn in to her quest for peace and happiness.
I didn't love the book although it is extremely well written. I tire of the mantra that "I'm screwed up because my parents were mean to me." The author finds out much later that her mother suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder which provides a genetic predisposition.
That said, I admire the woman who realizes her parents were human, made mistakes but seeks to become a better person. In this case, the author found a treatment that not only worked for her but she gained enough peace that she continued with her education to help others with mental illness.
inspiring book
You can tell from the very beginning of the book that Jill had a difficult childhood. In the book she always refers to her parents my name rarely does she use the words mother or father. To say Jill 's mother is difficult would be a understatement.Her life is going well untilFrances finds out she is pregnant with Jill and she is so angry and resentful that poor Jill never has a chance at pleasing this woman. Frances anger is also directed towards Jill' s father Clifford but Clifford find a way to escape from dealing with her on a daily basis, he takes a job the requires him to travel a lot. But Jill does not have that option, so what does Frances do she verbally abuses Jill constantly.
Now what makes this book a little different from most books dealing with depression is Jill takes us on her long journey to find the help she needs. Her story is a good example of how it is important to never give up onyourself. She tried many different medications and therapy programs during her long struggle until the one day she finally found what worked for her. This would be a great book for a depression support group. Many people could relate to Jill and be inspired my her strong will to save herself.
Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall
"Step on a Crack by Jill Byrne with Michael Ransomis an unforgettable memoir about Jill's up and down life while living as a Bipolar patient and person. It's almost like a coming of age story. The book begins very early in her life before going off to college and getting married. At home she lived with her sister, Beverly, and her mom and dad. The family reminded me of Beaver and Wally and their parents on The Leave it To Beaver show.
Ultimately, I would discover that Jill's family was not like the tv family. Frances, her mother, definitely was not a June Cleaver. It is not long before we slip inthe house and hear the family dynamics of the Byrne's family. Frances definitely favored Beverly and not Jill.Jill is the magnet for her mother's tongue that bites without looking back. The words she says to Frances are unbelievable, too painful for any child to hear day after day after day. Jill, in her mother's eyes, is just not capable of saying anything right or doing anything right or even looking nice.
By the time Jill began to show signs of mental illness, severe mental illness, I was not surprised. The book made me think about the power of speech. The words I say to someone can leave long lasting stress. The book made me want to go around and say a humbled, mumbled "sorry" to all the people I've hurt with a smartypants mouth. Jill's mother never did apologize to her daughter who only wanted to please her, make her smile. I think life travels forward in sync with our tick tockingclocks. Time does not slow down. Neither does time wait while I decide whether or not to say abrupt, sarcastic remarks to my family and friends.
Some times I am left holding a bag of "I should haves" and "I should not haves." This is why I like the book. It is a practical book for living life. I must remember what I say can damage another person's life. Although Jill and Frances are whom I've wrote about here, there is more going on in this family than I would have ever guessed. The good father and the perfect daughter, Beverly, are a story too. I have heard it said when one family member is sick the whole family is sick in some way. Besides, Beverly had to grow up. She, like all of us, faced unexpected trauma in her life.
I suppose this book is not only about "overcoming depression" it is about the baggage we bring to the family table. Baggage that is too heavy to put down. So we carry the same heavy bags topped with more heavy bags until the family begins to crumble. Thank goodness not all families are like the Mother Goose rhyme about Humpty Dumpty who was never put back together again. Through unknown factors the pieces of myself and the others around me can regain their wholeness.
When Jill's mother died, Jill placed jigsaw pieces in her coffin. These puzzles pieces were a symbol that her life was beginning to become less complicated. "At the funeral home, I handed the puzzle pieces to my niece and asked her to place them in the casket with Mother as a symbol that the major source of negativity in my life was now gone." If you have never faced depression, this book is still a great book to read while thinking about families and how they get through life. The book left me feeling as though no one is particularly to blame for the ups and downs of a relative or friend's life. Life is just not a carousel ride on a sunny day. To live healthily I need the strength of an Olympics athlete and wisdom of a Maya Angelou and the compassion of Mother Teresa. Sadly, I was not born with these precious treasures. I have to dig and weed my garden, myself, for the rest of my life. It is tough, really tough. Thank goodness there are April showers.
How to overcome therapists in a few easy strokes
Seldom does one find an account of depression that one finds hard to put down, but just such is Jill Byrne's highly readable memoir of her growing up (until the age of 47) with depression, largely brought on by her mother's carping on her every perceived fault and shortcoming.
The author, with the aid of coauthor Michael Ransom, sets a cracking pace throughout that makes the work read like a well-written novel. With the memoir arranged systematically into fairly short chapters that are filled with dialogue, it is impossible to become mired in the depths of despondency. In addition, the tone is relatively light-hearted, resulting from Jill's somewhat offbeat sense of humor. (I especially enjoyed her comparison of her mother, all set for her daily walk, heading out the door, `much like a St. Bernard rescue dog ready for winter duty'.)
Jill's account of the emotional distance of her mother, which led to Jill's internalization of her anger towards her in a form of depression, culminating in a psychotic episode, is graphically conveyed. Rather than raging against the inadequacy of the numerous therapists that she encountered on her way to recovery, she describes how her working through the Hoffman Quadrinity Process, as well as a few of her own self-help techniques, enabled her to recover her sense of self-esteem and self-worth. Her amusing comments on her therapists also make for lively reading. Who can forget her first therapist, Dr. Breickman, whose pipe smoke she describes as hanging `in motionless suspension' while each costly minute ticks by, or her encounter with a Quaker who endures silences with as much ease as he does the wearing of sandals and socks in mid-winter?
Including twenty black-and-white photographs, starting with those of her parents, but excluding her second husband and his children, Step on a Crack illustrates Jill's progress from childhood to her initiation into the world of entrepreneurship, with her very first `Magshot', showing Jill, together with three of her closest friends, in 1950s period costume, both hatted and gloved, at a staged tea party. One point here, though, rather than sporadically mentioning the years covered by specific chapters at their start, Jill's publisher, Wheatmark, might have included a timeline at either the start or the conclusion of the work. Such an overview of a work that spans several decades is likely to offer greater insight and to be relatively easy to grasp.
Jill Byrne has expressed her intention to write a fictionalized version of her story for junior high girls, no doubt to help them break through the strictures that over dominating parents can sometimes set. She herself was only finally able to break through the repressiveness of her own mother when the latter passed away in 1995.
Step on a Crack is likely to be of interest to a wider audience than just those who are affected by depression (though, as we all know, such an audience is very wide indeed). Her description of growing up in the small town mid-West should appeal to many of the `baby boomer' generation who are familiar with the settings that she describes. A final point worth mentioning is that Step on a Crack was recently recognized as a prize winner out of 32 entries in the Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc. (OWFI) non-fiction book contest.
[Please note that the copy of Step on a Crack reviewed above was a free review copy - stated in terms of a memo dated 2/5/2010 from Author Marketing Experts, Inc.]
Bridget's Review
Jill's memoir explains how she was able to overcome certain aspects of her life and helped mold her into the person she is today. Even though she has suffered in life and has been diagnosed with depression, she doesn't let that stand in her way. Everyday is a struggle and a triumph.
As a person who suffers from depression, I found Jill's book to be inspiring. Most of the time depression tells you that you're not worth it and just to give up. Fighting those words isn't easy but it can be done. Jill is a very strong woman and I hope that one day I will be able share my story with the world. This is a must read for people with depression disorders or their loved ones.
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