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    Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy
    Unavailable
    Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy
    Unavailable
    Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy
    Ebook216 pages3 hours

    Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy

    By Fran Macilvey

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A revelatory memoir of one woman’s life with disability, depression, acceptance, and ultimately, love.
     
    Fran Macilvey’s life had a difficult path from the moment she came into the world. Her mother, living in the Belgian Congo in the 1960s, had known she was pregnant with a daughter. But she didn’t know she was pregnant with two. By the time the doctors responded, one hour too late, Fran was born with cerebral palsy.
     
    Growing up disabled, Fran always felt different. While other children played, she could only watch. She grew up feeling like a frozen spectator, the observer of an unjust world that moved effortlessly around her. Juvenile hurt turned into adult anger, self-hatred, and suicidal depression—until the day when someone saw past her limitations, launching Fran on a journey of introspection, self-acceptance, and love.
     
    Exploring Fran’s million and one mistakes and successes on the path to peace and joy, Trapped is a revealing and honest meditation on what it means to live with disabilities—a beacon of hope and a powerful lesson in understanding.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 4, 2014
    ISBN9781629141299
    Unavailable
    Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy
    Author

    Fran Macilvey

    Fran was born in Congo in 1965 and spent eight years at boarding school in Scotland. She qualified in law and worked as a solicitor for ten years before turning to her first love, writing. Her memoir, 'Trapped: My Life with Cerebral Palsy' (Skyhorse Publishing 2014 / 2016) is an Amazon international bestseller. 'Happiness Matters' and her third book 'Making Miracles' explore how we can all find more happiness and fulfilment in life - what Fran calls, "gleaning something valuable from forty years of making mistakes." Fran is also writing a series of novels about women in the law. In her spare time she reads, swims, blogs, rides a lovely horse called Stroller, sings in the shower and dances where no-one can see her. If you would like to contact Fran, please email franmacilvey@fastmail.fm or get in touch with her at franmacilvey.com

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    Reviews for Trapped

    4/5

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    • 4/5

      I chose this book because my brother has cerebral palsy. I wanted to learn more about his experience, even though he’s in his forties now and we’ve had a long time to get to know each other.


      The author grabbed my attention with an incredibly gripping account of her mom in the delivery room, giving birth. She held my attention with her willingness to share her embarrassments, rages, failures. She shed light on how childhood emotions affect an adult life. Really insightful.


      She became aware she “… was the child who had things done to her, an ongoing experiment, an improvement project.” And I recalled all the braces, special shoes, and doctor’s visits my brother endured when he was a kid. It made my gut wrench. It wrenched again, when she described the day she started worrying about what would become of her. She was ten. What a burden for a ten-year-old.


      In the later chapters, Macilvey turned philosophical, which didn’t hold my interest. For me, the power of the book was in its more intimate moments. Sometimes her writing style was confusing. She frequently referred to her mother and grandmother by their first names. When she described a shabby apartment, I couldn’t tell if she meant an actual apartment, or she was speaking metaphorically about her life.



      I do receommend Trapped. Fran Macilvey’s story is important, and I’m glad she told it. It was important for me to learn that, even today, people look through her or simply turn away. The next time someone in a wheelchair rolls past me, I’m going to say hi. The same as I do when people walk past.