Our Divide

Our Divide: Two Sides of Locked in Syndrome is the story of the other side, the side of LaDonna the pregnant wife of Cleve, who at age twenty-seven, is struck down by an obstruction in the brain stem leaving him with locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that causes most victims to remain mute and paralyzed. Unlike Jean-Dominique Bauby (1997) in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Cleve “locked in” his unresponsive body is unable to sit up in a wheel chair or communicate by blinking an eye.

Our Divide is a beautifully written, honest accounting of the experience of a family member watching a loved one suffer. Harrison delivers both a peek into the world of a unique other and an intimate view of one young woman’s grieving process. This heart-breaking story braids a grief narrative, coming of age and survival narrative into the memoir genre, creating a genuine, honest portrayal of one woman’s mistakes and courage while learning how to take responsibility and create a life for herself. This memoir embraces sadness and trauma, life lessons, love and hope. Readers will be swept away.

Author: LaDonna Harrison

Publication Date: August 10, 2021

Categories: Fall 2021, Memoir

Description
About the Author

Description

“Our Divide is a spellbinding story of the tragic, harrowing start to young woman’s adulthood, told with exquisite detail and an honesty that had me by the throat. From the first page, Harrison pulled me into mosquito-ravaged summers and icy winters of Northern Minnesota, as she struggled to find her way through unspeakable trauma and unbearable loneliness.”
—Marj Charlier, author of The Rebel Nun

“In Our Divide one gets the feeling that author LaDonna Harrison has literally exhumed her past, bringing to the reader the heart, soul, and blood of a young woman weaving through her chaotic life. Harrison’s earnestness and openness threads her story with a passion, confusion, and desperate need to not just survive but ultimately and remarkably to turn her life around with success.”
—Ken Luber, author of The Sun Jumpers and Match to the Heart

“Our Divide is a deeply personal memoir about LaDonna’s life as a young woman, who is thrust into adulthood by an unhealthy attraction to a violent man. She writes candidly about their brief but passionate romance, her pregnancy, his devastating illness, and her search for self and purpose. I felt a personal connection to this story, the attraction to a powerful man and the conflicting emotions, as well as the feelings of waiting and hoping for a loved one to recover from a devastating illness. LaDonna’s skills as a writer give you the feeling that you’re walking that journey with her.”
—Mary Aalgaard, Play off the Page blog

“LaDonna Harrison bares heart and soul in this beautifully written and compassionate memoir that digs deep. A story of love and survival through unimaginable hardship.”
—Cyrus Nowrasteh, director of The Stoning of Soraya M. and The Young Messiah

About the Author

LaDonna Harrison grew up in northern Minnesota in a three-room house without an indoor bathroom. She and her younger sister slept in the living room, while Mom and Dad had the only bedroom. They lived off the land: her father hunted and caught fish; her mother planted a garden and spent the hot, humid month of August canning vegetables and fruit for the winter. Harrison has over the years completed three master’s degrees, as well as the course work for a PhD in Depth Psychology (MA English, MA Rhetoric, MA/ABD Depth Psychology). She has thirty years of experience teaching writing and workshops at the University of Minnesota, UC Santa Barbara, Lake Superior College, Carnegie Mellon, and St. John’s Seminary in California. She is a member of the Palm Springs Writer’s Guild, and her essay“Where’s the Juice” appears in The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey, edited by Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner. Now retired from university teaching, LaDonna live in Palm Springs, CA, with her husband, Al Miller, the great Dane Abby, and the Maine Coon cat Louie. LaDonna’s daughter, Deanie, and granddaughter, Chloe, live near her.