"Home is Within You" is an incredibly touching memoir that invites readers into the depths of Nadia Davis's journey, where she fearlessly confronts her personal challenges with unwavering courage. With each turn of the page, Davis's graceful prose and heartfelt honesty paint a vivid picture of resilience and inner strength, guiding readers through the darkest moments with hope and determination. Her willingness to share such intimate experiences is both admirable and profoundly inspiring, leaving a lasting impression on all who delve into her story.

"Home is Within You" is more than just a memoir; it serves as a beacon of hope for all. I found immense joy in reading this book and wholeheartedly recommend it to others seeking solace, inspiration, and a renewed sense of purpose.

While I never want to criticize a memoir, there was quite a bit that frustrated me here. I appreciated the author's account of her childhood, her education, the devastating loss of her father, a horrific car crash, her struggle with addiction, and her marriage ... but once we get to her marriage and pregnancy - I felt like she put up a barrier with her readers. She remains vulnerable and takes responsibility for certain mistakes yet she not only holds us at arms length as she recounts the sensational headlines that she was swept up in, it begins to read in a detached way and I was no longer captivated by the story but struggling through it.
The author's recovery is a celebration and her life and accomplishments are certainly worth reading but the abrupt change in writing left something to be desired from this memoir for me.

Thanks to Girl Friday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Home Is Within You was released on April 25, 2023.

We need more memoirs like this.

The one word I kept coming back to while reading was COURAGE. Nadia had the courage to write this book, and to keep getting back up during the dark days of her life.

The other word that never left me was VULNERABILITY. How often do we as humans suppress our past traumas and struggles and never tell anyone about them? Nadia did the opposite. She truly bares herself in this book, but not to invite judgment, but to encourage healing. She speaks of banning shame and honouring our journeys, even the detours and the dark paths our lives take us on. She encourages this so that we can move past unhelpful behaviours and addictions that have a stranglehold on our psyche.

This is a love offering - one from mother to son, and from human to human. It is an offering of pure honesty created to inspire, to encourage and to promote healing from the cycles of trauma.

The main message I took from this instead of burying ourselves with our secrets and shame, we can use them to uplift one another, provide pivotal teaching moments to our children and our greater human family.

I truly benefitted from reading this memoir. I made a promise to myself to cultivate an environment of honesty and transparency in my own life.

What a brilliant story that Nadia has crafted for all to enjoy. It’s not an easy thing to read but the way I’m which she has structured her book is really interesting and inspiring. The Dear Son format of letters works!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy for the purpose of this review.

Home Is Within You is one of those memoirs that will make your jaw drop to the floor and shatter at the mere astonishment of how much suffering the human spirit can endure. I am in awe of how vulnerable, generous, and selfless Nadia is within these pages. She shares her life story, beginning with the narrative of her father, as a way to share life lessons with her son. The narrative is compromised of letters written to her son about the journey she has made as a former attorney fallen from grace who found herself in an intimate partner violence dynamic that led to addiction and eventually her own incarceration. There are many times within the narrative Nadia shares moments when she relapsed and she does this with raw honesty while apologizing for her mistakes.

There are many powerful reflections within this memoir about the way systems fail mothers who need support and are suffering from the after effects of severe developmental and psychological trauma. The moments when Nadia was able to seek out rehabilitation she had to do so separate from her children and she makes some powerful statements about the impact this had on her, her children, her marriage, and families in general.

I am so glad that Nadia eventually found a therapist who she could build a truly powerful therapeutic relationship with. Her trauma recovery journey consisted of many things and at the center of it all was a therapist who helped her shed the shame of old narratives so that she could extend herself self love and self compassion on her healing journey. I am so humbled and grateful to Nadia for telling her story. It's one that will help many folx struggling with addiction, depression, and suicidal ideation find hope.

Thank you so much to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!