{"id":4121,"date":"2025-09-18T11:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4121"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:26:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:26:00","slug":"book-review-the-full-catastrophe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4121","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Full Catastrophe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Full Catastrophe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Casey Mulligan Walsh<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Memoir<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798887840413<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 338 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Motina Books<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by Erin Britton<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A powerful memoir on the fragility of belonging, the pull of family, and the potential of resilience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Casey Mulligan Walsh\u2019s The Full Catastrophe<\/em> is a story filled with deaths and lives, both those that were and that could have been.<\/p>\n

Walsh has always wanted to be part of a happy, healthy, and functional family, although she seems to have been almost crippled by imposter syndrome in this regard. \u201cMaybe I could fool them all into accepting me as the permanent, no-matter-what-happens family member and friend I longed to be.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Like many things, the reason for this lies in her unsettled and sometimes traumatic childhood.<\/p>\n

Her father died of a congenital heart condition when she was eleven, while her mother had been ill for years with breast cancer. She died when Walsh was twelve. \u201cGrowing up with sick parents has taught me one thing\u2014the only way forward is directly through whatever happens.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> And that is exactly what she does, albeit sometimes fearfully and robotically.<\/p>\n

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The loss of both parents in quick succession is devastating. Looking back on her youthful thoughts and feelings from her adult perspective, Walsh brings out the conflicts and contradictions inherent in bereavement, especially when experienced at a young age: \u201cI miss my dad, but since he died I\u2019ve felt all twisted up with a mix of secret gratitude that it wasn\u2019t my mother who had left me so suddenly and guilt for feeling that way.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Time has given Walsh a sufficient distance to see things clearly now\u2014both about her own action and beliefs and those of others. While assuredly portraying her own grief and uncertainty about the future, she also acknowledges how the deaths of her parents impacted those closest to her; they\u2019re ill-equipped to comfort this bereaved young girl.<\/p>\n

Following her mother\u2019s death, Walsh is sent to live with her Aunt Esther in rural upstate New York, while her nineteen-year-old brother, Tommy, decides to remain in New Jersey. This plan is made with good intentions, but it marks the final fracturing of Walsh\u2019s nuclear family. \u201cThere will be years stretching out ahead, crying myself to sleep in the dark of my room, grieving for all that is lost, the people I miss and the things I cannot yet name.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And this loss is compounded just eight years later when Tommy dies suddenly of a heart attack caused by familial hypercholesterolemia, the same thing that killed their father. The two of them hadn\u2019t seen each other much since Walsh went to live with Esther, but Tommy had always been an invaluable link to her past. \u201cHe\u2019s been, like Dad, elusive, someone I want and need but who is perennially out of reach. Now he, too, will be permanently unavailable.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With Tommy gone, the only constant in Walsh\u2019s life is Will Simonson, her new husband. Marriage had long been her goal, even if it meant dropping out of college and pursing a much more constrained path in life. \u201cI ride beside Will toward what feels like a whole new life. I can\u2019t think of a single reason I\u2019d want to look back.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> A life with Will and his close-knit family seems to offer the security that Walsh craves.<\/p>\n

Yet there are problems from the outset. As their family grows\u2014first son Eric, then son Kyle, and daughter Katie\u2014the troubles between Walsh and Will also grow. There are money troubles and interfering in-law troubles and alcohol troubles and more besides. \u201cThe more Will isn\u2019t the husband and father I pictured, the more I try to control him.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> But Will\u2019s problems spiral.<\/p>\n

Walsh\u2019s descriptions of the coercive and financial control she endured are restrained but redoubtable, as are her memories of family events marred by recriminations and times spent walking on eggshells. She\u2019s clear-sighted in discussing flaws, both Will\u2019s and her own. These aspects of life often prove more upsetting than the aspects of death, and The Full Catastrophe<\/em> makes plain the horror of Walsh\u2019s contentious divorce and subsequent parental alienation.<\/p>\n

And just when it seems she might have found purpose in a new career and solace in embracing spirituality, the other shoe drops. Eric, now grown but far from finding his path in life, is killed in a car accident. \u201cI\u2019ve been letting go of Eric for a very long time.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> After all the other tragedies she has experienced, Walsh is still unprepared to lose a child. Her recollections of this time are raw and poignant.<\/p>\n

Walsh\u2019s ability to keep on going is impressive and inspirational, showcasing the strength of her spirit and the resilience of her character. Interestingly, resilience is a concept with complex meaning for her. With fate having left her with little choice but to keep pushing forward against adversity, she questions whether she could really be described as resilient and whether such a strong characteristic is an entirely good thing:<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t hear the word \u2018resilience\u2019 until well into adulthood. I don\u2019t yet know there\u2019s a name for putting one foot in front of the other, day after day, whether you want to or not, whether you think the light at the end of the tunnel is help on its way or an oncoming train. I never consider that I could rebel, go off the rails in any one of a hundred ways.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Full Catastrophe<\/em> is a memoir about burdens\u2014those people are forced to carry and those they choose to shoulder\u2014whether it be the burden of causing pain to someone or the burden of being left behind. Walsh has carried the pain of bereavement, the fear of loss, and the desperate desire for family and belonging, and she will continue to do so.<\/p>\n

However, the fact that she has been able to manage so much is inspirational, even if she does not like to admit it, and her memories and reflections will serve as a light for others in the darkest of times. When there\u2019s no escape from fate, sometimes the bravest thing is to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. \u201cGoodbye is something I dread but have learned all too well to understand.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading Erin Britton\u2019s book review of The Full Catastrophe <\/em>by Casey Mulligan Walsh! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: The Full Catastrophe<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Full Catastrophe by Casey Mulligan Walsh Genre: Memoir ISBN: 9798887840413 Print Length: 338 pages Publisher: Motina Books Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Erin Britton A powerful memoir on the fragility of belonging, the pull of family, and the potential of resilience Casey Mulligan Walsh\u2019s The Full Catastrophe is a story filled with deaths and lives, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}