ABOUT BROTHER BROKEN
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Is suicide hereditary? Does it run in families? When three brothers end their lives is it an ill-fated coincidence or an underlying symptom? Perhaps it’s a curse, an unfortunate chain of events or a string of bad luck. One thing for sure, there are endless questions that beg answering.
‘Brother Broken’ is not a tale of woe. It’s not a romance novel, a how-to handbook, a travel guide, a pot-boiler, a sci-fi sequel or a fantasy adventure. It’s a Saskatchewan true story. A slice of history that’s not dark or depressing. A memoir of hope and gratitude, with a touch of ridiculous―though some parts are complicated, because there is nothing straightforward pertaining to ‘broken’. Three of my brothers died. I wish I could say they died of natural causes, but there is nothing natural about suicide. It’s the kind of loss that isn’t easily explained. |
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I remember my brothers by writing about them. I share the story of their lives. l tell of what decent boys they were, what they meant to me, how their lives were ordinary and sound before all the trouble started happening. I write so people will learn the goodness of my parents, the wholesomeness of my extended family, that my kin weren’t lowbrow hicks, who screwed-up raising kids.
If you are suffering, mourning or considering suicide, my deepest wish is for the story to speak to you, bring you out of despair and give you hope. - Cecile Beaulieu
From FreisenPress:
"Beaulieu’s story is full of the joys of childhood and the beauty of family life, though it provides no resolution to this painful reality—some tragedies stay with us forever. You will not find a happy ending here, but a recognition of life’s beauty, its meaning in its impermanence, and—perhaps most meaningful of all—true understanding of what it’s like to experience such harrowing loss."
If you are suffering, mourning or considering suicide, my deepest wish is for the story to speak to you, bring you out of despair and give you hope. - Cecile Beaulieu
From FreisenPress:
"Beaulieu’s story is full of the joys of childhood and the beauty of family life, though it provides no resolution to this painful reality—some tragedies stay with us forever. You will not find a happy ending here, but a recognition of life’s beauty, its meaning in its impermanence, and—perhaps most meaningful of all—true understanding of what it’s like to experience such harrowing loss."
REVIEWS
"Shared with humanity, dignity, and wit, Cecile Beaulieu’s memoir Brother Broken is about the devastation of mental illness and suicide, though it also recognizes the beauty of life and interpersonal relationships.
In the 1950s, Beaulieu and her six siblings grow up in Makwa, a farming village in Northern Saskatchewan with a population that seldom surpassed a hundred people. Denis, John, Cecile, and Mitch are the story’s primary focus; through them, it documents the family’s joys and sorrows as they navigate youth, adolescence, and adulthood. Mental illness plagued the family, manifesting itself in alcoholism and the suicides of Beaulieu’s three brothers."
- Foreword Clarion Reviews
In the 1950s, Beaulieu and her six siblings grow up in Makwa, a farming village in Northern Saskatchewan with a population that seldom surpassed a hundred people. Denis, John, Cecile, and Mitch are the story’s primary focus; through them, it documents the family’s joys and sorrows as they navigate youth, adolescence, and adulthood. Mental illness plagued the family, manifesting itself in alcoholism and the suicides of Beaulieu’s three brothers."
- Foreword Clarion Reviews
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ABOUT CECILE BEAULIEUCecile Beaulieu is an avid reader and first-time writer from Makwa, Saskatchewan. The enormous tragedies suffered by Beaulieu, experiencing the suicides of three of her brothers, pushed her to pen this memoir. Writing was her way to metabolize her grief, and she hopes this, her first book, will help those who have had similar experiences do the same.
A member of the Writers Guild of Alberta, she lives in Sundre, Alberta with her husband, John Bach. |
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