Laura Dennis

writer: mommy: recovering perfectionist

Laura Dennis Blog

About Adopted Reality

Adopted Reality Book Cover

In a September 11 memoir unlike any you've read, this thrilling, psychological adventure reveals the ups and downs of bipolar disorder and of relationships biological and circumstantial. After misguided Miss Perfect reunites with her birth mom, she watches as her adopted family and sanity disintegrate in the wake of 9/11. Adopted Reality is the coming-of-age story of a modern American family, of personal sacrifice in the face of complete selfishness, of pure love tempered with deep-seeded resentment, and of in-the-moment clarity destroyed by insanity.

Laura's lovely, suburban childhood is haunted by her adopted father's mental illness, and her adopted mother's efforts to hide behind the mask of domestic sainthood. When Laura begins rebelling against everything and everyone, she meets her biological mother and inadvertently opens the floodgates of an emotional identity crisis. Realizing she is finally free to choose the life she wants, Laura heads full speed into a fit of undiagnosed mania. While everyone proudly believes she's fulfilling her dream to dance, Laura insanely thinks she's a spy for the Illuminati who unwittingly perpetrated 9/11. After coming close to losing her mind permanently, the odds are now stacked against her — even the most experienced psychological experts are wary she can sustain a long term recovery. With fierce determination and a little bit of good-old-fashion denial, Laura must try to understand where she came from in order to regain her sanity and learn to exist between the highs and lows, living forever a recovering perfectionist.

Laura tells the story of her decent into madness in suspenseful, harrowing detail, so much so that you never have to wonder again what it's like to be inside the mind of an insane person. With sharp wit and searing honesty, Laura holds herself accountable while attempting to uncover the motivations of those around her.

Adopted Reality was written for the goodie-two-shoes who always raised her hand first, and for everyone else in class who rolled their eyes and wondered why she couldn't just calm the fluck down. If you love Showtime's Homeland, here's a real-life psychological thriller entwining the eclectic stories and secrets of family — biological and adopted, revealing that behind the perfect façade is an alternate reality.