{"product_id":"never-simple-by-liz-scheier-9781250823137","title":"Never Simple","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLiz Scheier's\u003c\/em\u003e darkly funny and touching memoir - with shades of Jeannette Walls's \u003cem\u003eThe Glass Castle\u003c\/em\u003e and Mira Bartók's \u003cem\u003eThe Memory Palace\u003c\/em\u003e - chronicles growing up in '90s Manhattan with a brilliant, mendacious single mother.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eScheier's mother Judith was a news junkie, a hilarious storyteller, and a fast-talking charmer you couldn't look away from. She was a single mother whose devotion crossed the line into obsession, and when gripped by the mental illness that plagued her daily life, became a violent and abusive liar whose hold on reality was shaky at best.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn an uneventful afternoon when Scheier was eighteen, her mother sauntered into the room to reveal two important things: first, she had been married for most of Scheier's life to a man she'd never heard of, and second, the man she'd been told was her father was entirely fictional. She'd made him up. Though these two big lies marked a significant moment, it was just the beginning; it required dozens of smaller lies to support them. By the time she finished, Judith had built a farcical, half-true life for the two of them, complete with a fake social security number and a fabricated husband.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne hot July day twenty years later, Scheier receives a voicemail from Adult Protective Services, reporting that Judith has stopped paying rent and is refusing all offers of assistance. This call marks the start of a shocking journey that takes the Scheiers, mother and daughter, deep into the cascading effects of decades of lies and deception.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNever Simple\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of learning to survive - and, finally, trying to save - a complicated parent, as feared as she is loved, and as self-destructive as she is adoring.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers New Zealand Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48243349422316,"sku":"9781250823137","price":57.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781250823137-never-simple-1.jpg?v=1787983927","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/products\/never-simple-by-liz-scheier-9781250823137","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}