A Girl Beyond Closed Doors by Jessica Taylor-Bearman

FIVE STARS

A Girl Beyond Closed Doors by Jessica Taylor-Bearman is the third of her ME memoirs, chronicling her life with this enigmatic neuro-immune disorder. Now married to Sam, Jessica is about to embark on the daunting and formerly believed impossible path of motherhood. While it’s a dream come true for Jessica and Sam, there’s absolutely no doubt that the added stress of a pregnant body will make Jessica’s ME act up even more. And then- the COVID years. 

I first picked up Jessica’s books a few years ago, precisely because she has ME. So do I, and I finally felt seen in this affliction by reading familiar responses to my own. The dysautonomia issues, intractable nausea, heart fluctuations, and blood pressure issues, not to mention the exhaustion, fatigue and excruciating pain. Catching COVID thanks to employer’s lax adherence to guidelines (that they never owned up to either) ended up making my ME a full disability. Or as my doctor has it labeled, a second diagnosis of Long COVID. 

I had wondered if Jessica had caught COVID, and if so, had she suffered a similar serious downturn in the ME. I’m glad to read that doesn’t seem the case, though it is disheartening that her friend got Long COVID. Reading about Felicity’s birth and growth provided a delightful counterpoint to the harsh reality of living with this devastating disorder.

Highly recommended! 

Read my prior review

A Girl Behind Dark Glasses/ A Girl in One Room by Jessica Taylor-Bearman 

And this great article by the author

How Can People Treat Those with ME by Jessica Taylor-Bearman

***Many thanks to Netgalley & Hashtag Press for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.