The author recounts her discovery that she was conceived to replace a sister who died in a tragic accident and the effect that this knowledge had on her relationship to her parents and surviving sister.
Harry McChesney is seven when he first learns of Buddy, his only brother who'd died young and left his family in misery. After a fitful start on his own life, Harry decides that the only way to get things right for himself and his family is to become "The Replacement Son." Author W.S. Culpepper frames Harry's psychological drama within an epic adventure story. Harry struggles to define himself, rescue his family from the emotional aftermath of his brother's death, and undertake a lifetime of labors as the next head of the McChesney clan. The novel tracks reluctant pilgrim Harry on his existential quest through Depression-Era New Orleans, WWII, and the city's devastation following Hurricane Katrina. "The Replacement Son" brings a charming but most unlikely hero and an exotic range of supporting characters to life in a compelling story of sacrifice and discovery.
An eye-opening exploration of a topic that affects the lives of countless individuals and families.This award-winning book, REPLACEMENT CHILDREN, weaves the true-life stories of individuals who faced the challenges of growing up in the shadow of a lost or impaired sibling, and the huge price they paid. The stories in the book include celebrities such as Princess Diana, Chelsea Handler, and Elvis Presley, who are among thousands of individuals around the world whose lives have been shaped by loss. The book delves into the similarities, thoughts, feelings, challenges, and repercussions of the replacement child role.When properly understood, this psychological term, replacement child, can expose the often-hidden root of emotional issues, help to explain coping strategies, and answer questions you never knew to ask. This book will provide adult replacement children, parents, families and therapist much needed information, guidance and support as they try to come to terms with who they are.
Kristina E. Schellinski uncovers the hidden trauma of the replacement child – born into an atmosphere of grief to substitute for a lost sibling or other person – and helps adult replacement children discover the uniqueness of their self. Schellinski combines Jungian theory with research from over 20 years of clinical practice to demonstrate how adult replacement children who suffer from physical and psychological distress can rediscover the essence of their being in the transformative process of individuation. Theoretical yet practical, the book discusses core concepts of analytical psychology, psychoanalysis and attachment theory, and detailed case studies address grief, guilt, identity formation, relational challenges and shadow aspects. Schellinski explores how Jung’s birth after three dead children impacted his search for self and his theory and discloses her own personal experience. On treatment and prevention, she argues that by recognising elements of the condition, clinicians can facilitate acceptance, compassion and healing, and help reduce transgenerational transmission. This book is an indispensable tool for clinicians, analytical psychologists, psychodynamic psychotherapists and those in other medical professions, and will be of great interest to academics and readers interested in Jungian studies and existential questions. It offers adult replacement children and their families hope for a psychological rebirth.
A man shares his story of growing up in a late 20th-century American cult—and how he escaped—in this gripping autobiography. As the adopted son of two cult leaders, Benjamin Risha was raised to someday assume a place of leadership in the Alamo Christian Foundation, with the Bible, and his parents’ interpretations of it, as his guide. He believed the prophecies of his adoptive mother and father, Tony and Susan Alamo, including them being the two prophets foretold in the Book of Revelations who precede the second coming of Jesus Christ, them rising from the dead after they died, and such dire warnings as the ground opening up to swallow non-believers into hell. And he was sure that Susan Alamo could raise the dead as promised. However, when none of it happened, and the foundation slid from bucolic communal lifestyle to insufferable criminality that included absolute obedience to the Alamos, and polygamous marriages with girls as young as eight years old, Benjamin knew he had to escape. If he were caught trying to escape, he would be severely beaten, forced to go without food and water for his sins, and shamed in the community. So, he embarked on a journey to locate his birth parents, discover the truth about a world he knew nothing about . . . and find himself. In The Son of Seven Mothers, Benjamin Risha takes readers on a harrowing journey that few in the United States can imagine. And eventually he must choose between the life he knows and was “chosen” to lead, and his freedom.
This book is an exploration of the internal world of James Joyce with particular emphasis on his being born into his parents’ grief at the loss of their firstborn son, offering a new perspective on his emotional difficulties. Mary Adams links Joyce’s profound sense of guilt and abandonment with the trauma of being a ‘replacement child’ and compares his experience with that of two psychoanalytic cases, as well as with Freud and other well-known figures who were replacement children. Issues such as survivor guilt, sibling rivalry, the ‘illegitimate’ replacement son, and the ‘dead mother’ syndrome are discussed. Joyce is seen as maturing from a paranoid, fearful state through his writing, his intelligence, his humour and his sublime poetic sensibility. By escaping the oppressive aspects of life in Dublin, in exile he could find greater emotional freedom and a new sense of belonging. A quality of claustrophobic intrusive identification in Ulysses contrasts strikingly with a new levity, imaginative identification, intimacy and compassion in Finnegans Wake. James Joyce and the Internal World of the Replacement Child highlights the concept of the replacement child and the impact this can have on a whole family. The book will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists and child psychotherapists as well as students of English literature, psychoanalytic studies and readers interested in James Joyce.
“A boy growing up in Japanese-occupied Taiwan . . . will do anything to escape his tormenting family and reconnect with his first love . . . Compelling” (O, The Oprah Magazine). In the middle of a terrifying air raid in 1940s Taiwan, Saburo, the least-favored son of a Taiwanese politician, runs through a forest for cover. It’s there he stumbles on Yoshiko, whose descriptions of her loving family are to Saburo like a glimpse of paradise. Meeting her is a moment he will remember forever, and for years he will try to find her again. When he finally does, she is by the side of his oldest brother and greatest rival. In Saburo, author Julie Wu has created an extraordinary character, determined to fight for everything he needs and wants, from food to education to his first love. The Third Son is a sparkling and moving story about a young boy with his head in the clouds who, against all odds, finds himself on the frontier of America’s space program. “Clear your schedule! The Third Son is your next obsessive read. Julie Wu’s book reads like an instant classic.” —Lydia Netzer, bestselling author of Shine Shine Shine “I was entranced by this tale of an immigrant who boldly makes a new future for himself out of the wreckage of a Dickensian childhood. . . . A universal story that will have everyone cheering for Saburo and Yoshiko, two lovers whose faith in each other spans continents and oceans.” —David Abrams, author of Fobbit “Deceptively simple, deeply compelling . . . An unusually awful sibling rivalry, a stunningly pure and inspiring love story.” —The Boston Globe
Presents the life of former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, making use of access to key players in his administration, as well as to Chicago's business and cultural leaders, to chronicle his political and personal evolution.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove shares an irresistible and moving collection of heartfelt, humorous essays about fatherhood, providing his newborn son with the perspective and tools he’ll need to make his way in the world. Things My Son Needs to Know About the World collects the personal dispatches from the front lines of one of the most daunting experiences any man can experience: fatherhood. As he conveys his profound awe at experiencing all the “firsts” that fill him with wonder and catch him completely unprepared, Fredrik Backman doesn’t shy away from revealing his own false steps and fatherly flaws, tackling issues both great and small, from masculinity and mid-life crises to practical jokes and poop. In between the sleep-deprived lows and wonderful highs, Backman takes a step back to share the true story of falling in love with a woman who is his complete opposite, and learning to live a life that revolves around the people you care about unconditionally. Alternating between humorous side notes and longer essays offering his son advice as he grows up and ventures out into the world, Backman relays the big and small lessons in life, including: -How to find the team you belong to -Why airports explain everything about religion and war -The reason starting a band is crucial to cultivating and keeping friendships -How to beat Monkey Island 3 -Why, sometimes, a dad might hold onto his son’s hand just a little too tight This is an irresistible and insightful collection, perfect for new parents and fans of Backman’s “unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness). As he eloquently reminds us, “You can be whatever you want to be, but that’s nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are.”