Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir

As a little girl, Laura Flynn thought her mother could do no wrong. A strong, free spirit, Sally Flynn sparked her daughter's imagination with games and stories of her youth - when she's set off for Paris in 1960, met Laura's father and criss-cross Europe. The couple settled in San Francisco and had three daughters, embarking on what might have been the most charmed of family lives.
Instead, by the time Laura was eight, Sally's hold on reality began to slip. She turned to her dreams for messages and portents, set strict rules for what her daughters could eat and wear, and came to believe her husband was the devil himself - or at least that he was under the devil's power - that he had "crossed the line." After Laura's parents divorced, her father struggled to gain custody, while Sally waged a pitched battle for her daughter's souls. Forced to make impossible choices, the three girls retreated to books, stories and elaborate games, creating a powerfully protective world of imagination.
Set in 1970s San Francisco, Swallow the Ocean is the true story of what it's like to experience a parent's schizophrenia through the lens of a child who has no language for mental illness. Most of all, this is a tribute to the ingenuity of children in the face of catastrophic events.

Laura M. Flynn currently teaches writing at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.