With A Woman's Voice: A Writer's Struggle for Emotional Freedom (Hardcover)

~ Lucy Daniels (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1951, at age 17 and just over 50 pounds, Daniels was admitted to a mental hospital, where she remained for several years. While enduring electro-convulsive shock therapy, insulin injections, and force feedings, she wrote a best-selling novel, Caleb, My Son, addressing generational conflict and racial inequality in the South in the 1950s. A few years later, with a Guggenheim fellowship, she wrote High on a Hill, a fictionalized account of life in a mental hospital. With this memoir (clearly steeped in Freudian psychoanalytical theories and principles), Daniels provides accounts of her anorexia nervosa, writer's block, continuous psychotherapy sessions, and the road to finding her voice. Reliving the past in writing the memoir (her first book in 40 years) must have been both painful and releasing for Daniels, who has been a practicing clinical psychologist since 1977. Readers will experience her sense of loss and her struggle to clarify childhood experiences that became the focus of adulthood therapy sessions. The result is occasionally difficult and painful reading. Most suitable for public libraries and for autobiographical collections. Jeris F. Cassel, Rutgers Univ. Libs., New Brunswick, NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Daniels, author of Caleb, My Son, here tells of her troubled childhood, which included bouts of anorexia and mental illness. Her struggle to overcome her problems resulted in a bestselling book and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Madison Books; 1St Edition edition (April 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568332505
• ISBN-13: 978-1568332505
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,391,227 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a compelling, wrenching read, August 1, 2002

By	C. Kotlas "caryNCreader" (Cary, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lucy Daniels' story of overcoming her upbringing by narcissitic parents and of surviving anorexia (and the various "cures" for it imposed on her as a teenager) is an emotionally-draining read. Daniels is a woman who went through a private hell from childhood and into adulthood, but managed to finally free herself. In her 40's she was able to go to college, acquire a PhD, and start a career as a successful clinical psychologist. She attributes much of her great progress to the help of her psychotherapist. This book is a confirmation that good therapy is worth the investment (both of time and money) even late in life. I highly recommend it!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With a Woman's Voice: A Writer's Struggle for Emotional Free, May 8, 2002

By A Customer

Lucy Daniels captures my complete attention with her courageous story about growing up in a prominent NC family, struggling with anorexia, surviving mental institutions in the 1950s, and emerging, after finally receiving the treatment she so desperately needed, stronger and determined to help others. I was so immersed in the story, each chapter pushed me into the next! A must read!!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling style--reads like a novel, May 22, 2002

By A Customer

Lucy Daniels has written a book that will inspire hope in all readers who struggle to master the trauma of childhood. She is a gifted, award-winning author, whose compelling style combines with stunning candor to make this book read like an intriguing novel. And yet this is her true life story --one of enormous courage, creativity, and ultimately redemption.