This is an interesting read from the perspective of the daughter of a man suspected to live with undiagnosed ASD. I had the chance to read it earlier this year. Read my review here.
About the Book
BLISS ROAD is the story of a neurotypical daughter of an undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder parent. Sometimes funny, often devastating, Martha Engber’s honest and moving memoir illuminates the parent-child challenge presented by a neurological condition that affects over 75 million people worldwide.
A hybrid of poetry and essays, Ms. Engber uses personal anecdotes, coupled with historical research and current statistics, to explain the emergence of autism over the last hundred years. She includes the birth of Asperger’s, or high-functioning autism, as a formal diagnosis in 1994, the year her young nephew’s condition was determined.
After describing the psychological, emotional and social challenges she faced as a child, then as an adult and parent, she explains the method by which she changed her thinking and behavior to both celebrate her parents and heal. She ends by encouraging others to chase down the source of their family angst to reach a more blissful future.
A fascinating and encouraging journey of discovering the seemingly undiscoverable, Bliss Road combines the intimacy and warmth of Tuesday With Morrie and the empowerment demonstrated by Shonda Rhimes in Year of Yes!
About the Author
Martha Engber is the author of WINTER LIGHT, the 2021 IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Young Adult Fiction. Her other books include THE WIND THIEF, a literary novel, and GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS FROM THE GROUND UP. Her memoir, BLISS ROAD, will be published by Vine Leaves Press June 6, 2023.
A freelance editor and workshop facilitator, she’s had a play produced in Hollywood and fiction, poetry and essays published in Watchword, the Berkeley Fiction Review, Iconoclast and other literary magazines. She received her Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri — Columbia before working as a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other national publications.
She lives in California with her husband, where she bikes, hikes and surfs when not writing, trying new recipes and reading. She appreciates a wide variety of books and has a penchant for poetry; memoirs of all styles; literary and historical novels; and enlightening nonfiction, and neurological research in particular.
Published by Amorina Carlton. Award-winning American author, Amorina Carlton, is currently working on her first novel. You can find more about her published work and works in progress on the home page. She also serves as the PR/Marketing Lead for Ravens and Roses Publishing, and reviews books, mostly by other indie authors, here and on Bookstagram.