This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Corinne Brown will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
“The results of your predictive testing are here, and they show that you did inherit the gene for Huntington’s disease.”
Those words, delivered by the neurologist to 57-year-old Mae Brown, forever changed her life and the lives of her family. Me, Mom & the Monster is a soul-stirring memoir that follows the path of this farming wife, businesswoman, mother and grandmother who lived a life with a monster of a disease. Interwoven with Mae’s story is that of her third child, Corinne, whose life is intrinsically connected to her mother’s diagnosis. Told from alternating voices of Corinne and her mother, this is a candid account of the harrowing effects of living with a fatal, genetic disease. Me, Mom & the Monster captures the authenticity and vulnerability of a mother and daughter who find themselves entwined in a long dance with a neurodegenerative disease.
Enjoy an Excerpt
MOM
“The results of your predictive testing are here, and they show that you did inherit the gene for Huntington’s disease.”
When the neurologist says those words to me and my husband, my heart drops to my feet, and I feel my breath leave my body. Although I had tried to be hopeful throughout this whole process, I am not entirely surprised by the outcome. Still, I immediately feel defeated and devastated. My shoulders slump, and I suddenly feel much older than my fifty-seven years. I look at my husband, sixty-eight years old. This is going to tarnish his golden years.
In the distance, I can faintly hear the doctor say some other words. I can hear a clock ticking, which seems loud to me. My husband is asking questions, but all I can focus on is the irrepressible image of my life unravelling. I wonder what the months and years will bring. When will it start? How severe will my symptoms be? How will my family cope? The annihilating assault of questions press non-stop in my brain.
The words are out there now; there is no going back. That one devastating sentence will change the trajectory of my life. My first thoughts are of my children—three daughters and a son—not only that they will have to watch the disease progress in their mother, but that they also might have the malicious gene. The guilt is immense, and I feel its monumental heaviness instantly. Please, I pray, don’t let any of them have this. How can I live with the weight of the guilt that they will now be at risk because of my genes?
About the Author
Corinne was 10-years old when she told her teacher that when she grew up, she was going to be an author. A few decades may have passed since then, but the author dream was realized with the publication of her debut novel, Me, Mom & the Monster in the summer of 2026.
Corinne, a native Newfoundlander, grew up surrounded by books, newspapers and magazines. Her environment must have had some impact since she graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Arts and then went on to pursue a Journalism diploma at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta.
Although her initial intention was to write fiction, Corinne says the story of Me, Mom & the Monster needed to be told first. She says sharing the intimate story of being part of a Huntington’s disease family opened the space for other ideas.
When she isn’t creating characters, and envisioning scenes and scenarios, she finds comfort in being outside. She lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada where she is continuously adding to her To Be Read stack and where she is currently writing her second book.
Buy the book at Amazon.
