Always Yours, Bee
On a rainy November day, Mia Hayes' husband left for work on his Vespa. Normally, she would have driven him, but Mia was waiting on a phone call with an editor and didn't have time.
She never saw that caring, loving version of her husband again.
The fallout from his accident--Mia's guilt and her husband's PTSD, memory loss, and depression--consumed their lives over the next five years as her laid-back husband changed into an angry man with few memories of their past. Desperate to hold her fragile family together, Mia ignored her own unraveling and plunged into bipolar depression.
As she searched for answers to unanswerable questions, Mia moved her family from San Francisco to Paris, France before landing in a leafy Washington, D.C. suburb where she tried to find a fresh start only to become embroiled in a scandal of her own making.
Through ups and downs, mental illness and bad decisions, Mia struggled with what it means to be a good wife and mother, whether saving her marriage was worth the pain, and understanding that healing is a personal journey.
Always Yours, Bee is a heartbreaking yet triumphant and brave look at a woman, a marriage, and a family falling apart and coming out stronger. Told with clarity and introspection, it captures the terror of losing the person closest to you—yourself.
My Review
Wow. This is my first thought after reading this book. My other thought was "raw". I loved how raw Mia was about sharing her story. She did not hold anything back. This is one of the most realist memoirs that I have read in a very long time. Which is the reason that I read memoirs is to get to learn about the person featured in the story.
I do have to admit that while reading Mia's story, it did bring up some of my past personal situation with my husband. Thus, this is part of the reason I say this book felt "raw". I could really relate to Mia and what she was going though and her feelings.
Another important aspect of Mia's story is her mental health journey. It is an important one. One that others will also relate to. It shines a light on mental health and the importance that people need to have help readily available to them. A huge thanks to Mia for sharing her story.
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Mia lives in Northern Virginia where she has been known to eavesdrop a time or two. When she’s not writing and drinking ridiculous amounts of green tea at Panera, she loves to travel with her family, host parties for friends, and send her husband ideas for her dream home.
She is the author of The Waterford series and the upcoming 2021 releases, The Has-Beens and Always Yours, Bee – a memoir.
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