What an honest and fascinating story of addiction and how she made it through that time in her life.

I gobbled this up unexpectedly. Considering the heavy subject matter, this is a surprisingly quick read. The material is presented in such a unique and engaging way. I particularly appreciated the portions that discussed parenthood. Thanks so much to the publisher for the review copy!

What an incredibly unique memoir and gift to the reading community. How do we explain our younger (complicated) selves to our children? The mixed media is such a wonder touch, it gives Good Talk vibes.

As a parent, I'm always worried how much to divulge to my children...but more importantly, when. I don't have any super intense skeletons in my closet like past drug use, but I empathized with House as she struggled to be transparent with her kids in an apporpriate way. This was a great memoir - one of the best I've read in awhile - and I applaud House's bravery and courage!

I enjoyed these essays. Cindy House is an excellent writer. I found them humorous and heart-warming. I would be happy to read more that she has written.

Cindy House comes in and out of the dark history of her addiction and lightness and love around her son which makes this memoir both heartbreaking and lovely. This memoir is as much about addiction as it is about relationships and love.

A client recently shared with me that someone special to her called her something terrible when she was young, and she carried this something terrible as truth into her adulthood. She had a mentor however that reflected actual truth back to her, that she was valuable and important. This reminded me of the relationship and friendship that this author and David Sedaris had, that she so eloquently shares with us in her story.

Always, always believe the person that tells you that you are good.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scribner and Cindy House for this ARC!

A book of essays written by a woman who suffered addiction and relapses and has been clean for 20+ years. I love essays by recovering addicts. They are so self aware of their weaknesses and flaws and it's refreshing. We all have our stuff. We are all helpless at certain point. But Cindy is also a mother so it's about being a parent and dealing with bringing up your child in the face of the scary terrible but also joyous world. She also is a student of and is friends with David Sedaris so there's a bit about him too which if you're a fan you'll like this.
I appreciated the humor here and there and the candid details of struggling.

Thanks so much to Scribner for a chance to read and review this book prior to release.

It tells the heartbreaking story of a mom who struggled as an addict and how she tells her son.

The format is done in small chunks which makes the chapters easily readable. There are also quite a few pictures throughout the book that provide context.

I wanted to like this one more than I did but the jumping around make it hard for me to follow and connect with the author.

I'm sure this will be a relatable book for many. I applaud the author for sharing her story, the good and the bad

I wasn't familiar with Cindy House prior to reading Mother Noise, but I'm really glad I read this memoir! In Mother Noise, Cindy details her life after recovering from drug addiction and becoming a parent. I really appreciated Cindy's discussion about parenthood and how we discuss tough topics with our children.

I listened to this on audio, and I loved that it was narrated by the author. Thank you Scribner books and Netgalley for the #gifted e-book and physical book and Simon and Schuster audio for the #gifted audio copy.

"If you shake me, the past still rattles around inside. I close my eyes and an old zipper from a favorite pair of pants shivers over my skin. The weightlessness of a wooden hummingbird sits in my palm. Old letters twist and stretch themselves out of their envelopes like snakes shedding their skin, revealing loopy, girlish handwriting that says I want to live, please survive this."

This past winter David Sedaris did a few readings in Seattle for his not-yet-released book Happy-Go-Lucky and he brought his former student and lifelong friend Cindy House to read an excerpt from Mother Noise to open for him. Luckily for me this event series took place within walking distance of my humble abode, so I snagged tickets and meandered to the event. When the audience was told an unknown author would be opening for Sedaris, I was less than thrilled. Who is this House lady, I thought. Well, fortunately for me, when House started reading I was blown away. I jotted down her name and crossed my fingers hoping I could snag an ARC of her upcoming memoir. Fast forward to today, where not only was I luckily enough to acquire said ARC (thanks, NetGalley!) but I've devoured the book and will share my thoughts with you, dear reader.

As my opening quote demonstrates, House has a beautifully poetic way with words. I simply adore the way she stitches together her thoughts and ideas to tell her story. And man, does House have an interesting story to tell. From her time in a psych ward due to severe depression to overcoming a heroin addiction to going through a custody battle with a truly awful ex, House has lived through some things. Additionally, a lovely little surprise I wasn't expecting was the comics dispersed throughout the story. Not only can House write, she can draw too!

While I found this memoir to be thoroughly enjoyable, I also found a few things I wasn't the biggest fan of. The first one is probably a me problem, but I have a hard time when memoirists jump around in time when they're telling their life story - especially if it's someone whose story isn't well known to the public to begin with. Since House was in and out of college, in and out of rehab, on and off drugs, and has been married more than once, it was slightly difficult for me to correctly arrange her life story in my wee brain since her essays weren't arranged chronologically. The second gripe is how much of her book was about David Sedaris and her friendship with him. Look, I'm a huge Sedaris fan, so it was a thumbs up in my book that he made an appearance in this tale. And it's very clear he's been a long standing positive influence in House's life. I just felt House's story is so interesting on its own I would've liked to see more pages of this book devoted to how she managed to finally overcome addiction or anecdotes of her terrible ex husband and fewer pages of letters she received from David over the years.

Quick Take: A mother struggles with parenting after a life of addiction.

Mother Noise by Cindy House is part memoir, part musing about what it means to parent through trauma. House always felt big, even as a child her emotions were powerful. Unfortunately, she was taught not to let them out and to suppress them. In time this took its toll and she felt like she was drowning in her own emotions. As she transitioned into adulthood, she found alcohol and pot could sooth the pain which eventually transitioned into harder drugs like heroine.

Even though I’ve never struggled with drug addiction, I empathized so much with House in this story. Her writing made me feel like I was living through the pain with her. While this sounds unpleasant, it is one of the greatest joys of reading - to experience life with others. She eventually got married and had her first child, leaving drugs behind. Unfortunately, her marriage was abusive and ended in divorce.

Parenting is hard, parenting while sharing custody with an abusive parent is even harder. Her ex-husband remarried as soon as they got divorced. His new wife was very abusive to her stepson, purposely feeding him things he was allergic to prove he wasn’t allergic. I really saw how messed up our child custody system is

House does an excellent job drawing you into her story and I appreciated her vulnerability. At times, her story did feel a little disjointed, but I assume it was by design. I would recommend this book to anyone who this story resonates with or likes memoirs.

Rating: 4/5
Genre: Memoir

Highly recommend. In this heart felt and sometimes wrenching memoir I felt so connected to the author in her essays about her life through and out of addiction into sober motherhood. Her writing was incredible- touching prose sprinkled with humor. A great book.

Mother Noise
by Cindy House
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Scribner
Thanks to the author, Scribner, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
* Memoir * nonfiction * essays
A poignant and beautiful memoir told in essays and graphic shorts about what life looks like twenty years after recovery from addiction—and how to live with the past as a parent, writer, and sober person.
I really liked this book!
4 stars

I wasn't at all familiar with Cindy House before reading this memoir. The sections about her son-- particularly the complexity of raising a copy-paste of your own complex biology while also grappling with how to let him in on exactly what that means-- was moving and fascinating. The actual addiction/recovery portion of the story was less intriguing to me, but perhaps the point was to keep us somewhat separate from that part of House's life.

An open and intimate memoir told in short stories, essays & graphics.
As a mother in recovery, I really appreciated this book! So many highlights and nuggets of wisdom on life, addiction, recovery and motherhood.
Cindy House beautifully and bravely puts all of life's struggles on paper in an honest and moving perspective.
This is why I love and will always read great books on overcoming addiction, struggling with motherhood or life in general - it makes you feel 'seen'; less alone. As she point out- books can really save your life!


Many thanks to Netgalley & Scribner / Marysue Rucci Books for my advanced copy!

Interesting but not really my cup of tea. Well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Mother reflects on her life as an addict and how she is now focusing on making the best life for her son. Predictable and honestly it was a struggle to keep my interest. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

So well written an intimate look at dealing with life after recovering from drug addiction.Now the author is a mother living a different reality trying to decide how to tell her son about her past life.Told in Cindy Houses moving voice through essays and drawings a book that gripped me from the first pages and can’t wait to share.#netgalley #scribner

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I loved the flow of this memoir, short stories/essays as Cindy recalls her years of addiction, rehab and now as a adult of a young teenage son. She shares her honest feelings of how/when to tell her son her past, who to tell her story to so no one judges her. We read as she develops friendships, goes to different rehabs/therapies, visits her old stomping grounds, etc. We also learn about her son and how he processes his feelings and how she worries about his future and if her struggles are genetic,. A very honest easy read on a hard topic.

Cindy House's memoir 'Mother Noise' is a fascinating story of a former heroin addict who enters recovery and a new life. This new life makes her feel like her past remains a shameful secret, a secret able to topple her son's trusting adoration, and her fellow moms' friendship.
This insider's look at recovery, motherhood, insecurity and hope make for a riveting read