About My Book

Hi, my name is Suzy McNamara, and I’m the author of an upcoming memoir The Silkworm, The Magician, and The Sister Tree: A Tale of Love and Loss.

Last year, I lost my husband to early-onset Alzheimer’s after five years of caring for him in our home. Seven months before my husband passed, I lost my sister unexpectedly to pulmonary disease. My sister had been my best friend my entire life and to lose her just as I was facing the biggest challenge of my life completely wrecked me. I had to muster whatever strength I could so that I could care for and accompany my husband in the final months of his truly horrific disease.

Caring for a spouse with early-onset Alzheimer’s comes with baggage that other caregivers do not carry. The world can feel pretty unfriendly and definitely frightening for caregivers navigating the physical and emotional demands of caregiving, which are especially perilous when your husband or wife is younger than the typical Alzheimer’s sufferer.

Loss of identity destroys an Alzheimer’s patient. For a victim of early-onset Alzheimer’s that loss of identity is magnified by loss of employment at what should be the height of their professional careers. Marriages, friendships, and relationships with their kids should be thriving and vibrant at the young age (40s and 50s) that early-onset strikes. Those relationships transform overnight for every victim of the disease. Suddenly they are not the providers, the lovers, the strong fathers, the smart and funny friends. They are the sick and impaired people who cannot function without constant assistance. The world keeps reinforcing their deepest fear that they are failures. They have to be constantly reminded that they didn’t fail—they got sick. Caregivers have to salvage what’s left of their loved one’s sense that they are valued to make them feel safe and loved. Every day is a search for joy amongst the ruins, a constant bobbing and weaving away from an overwhelming amount of challenges while grabbing for sparks of light to shine on their spouse.

While writing my book I was lucky enough to hear so many stories from women who had lost their own sister. Stories about hilarious phone conversations or incredible acts of kindness or fights over nothing that were laughed about later, stories that spanned years and years of never-ending friendship and conversation, sparked the feelings of warmth and connection that my sister gave me every day. I am hopeful that my own stories in this book bring that same warmth and connection to any reader that has suffered the loss of a sister or a friend. 

Writing this book was pretty painful at times,  but it also brought me great moments of joy. The greatest tragedies usually start with the greatest love stories and so does mine. When my husband was sick, and different in so many ways to the man I had fallen in love with and lived with for over thirty years, memories of the magical times between us were too painful, as were the constant interior flashes of my sister’s beautiful face and lovely laugh. Reliving the stories of the storybook romance with my husband and the childhood and adult adventures with my sister so that my readers could know who my favorite people were before they got sick, and understand the connections that we had before they were destroyed by illness and death, made those love stories come alive for me again. 

In my book, I also relive my faith journey which I am told is quite unusual. Though discouraged from participating in any faith practice as a child, I eventually developed a strong spiritual connection which became key to maintaining the strength I needed to withstand the heartaches I experienced throughout my life.

I wanted to write this book because I am hoping to throw a lifeline to anyone who feels like they are drowning from stress and grief. Caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s is tough, losing a husband is tough, losing a sister is tough. All of these heartbreaks are isolating. I hope that by sharing my story others feel understood and confident that there is joy and love in this life for them. I found ways to get through those experiences in one piece, and I hope that I can inspire people to use the lessons I learned or find their own ways to survive. 

My Publishing Journey: Where Your Support Goes

I’m publishing The Silkworm, The Magician, and The Sister Tree: A Tale of Love and Loss with the support of Manuscripts Press, an innovative publisher that provides me with a full publishing team to bring this book to life. This fall, I’m working closely with:

• A revisions editor, copy editor, and proofreader to assist me as I endeavor to craft a memoir that is honest, engaging and ultimately inspiring
• A marketing strategist to help me connect with new audiences and make the book’s message reach those anyone who will be interested in and lifted by my memoir
• A cover artist and layout editor who will ensure the final product reflects my message in a beautiful and professional way

Exclusive Presale Perks

I invite you in my publishing journey by supporting my presale and enjoying the following exclusive perks:

• You will receive a signed copy of my book when it is published next spring one week before it is sold on Amazon and other platforms
• Your name will appear in the “Acknowledgments” section of my book (unless of course you prefer to remain anonymous)
• You will receive an invitation to join my Author Community and receive regular behind-the scenes sneak peeks into the publishing process along with sections of my first draft (I would love your feedback)
• My cover art has been beautifully painted by Peggy Macnamara, but you will have the opportunity to be involved in the finalizing of the background colors, print font, and other design aspects (the image shown here is a mockup for presale purposes)

Other Ways to Support Me

I have been so blessed by friends and family who walked with me during my journey of caregiving and loss. On this writing and publishing journey I would be enormously grateful for any assistance that you feel good about giving. Here are some ideas:

• If you are comfortable doing so, please share my presale campaign on your social media accounts. Please use #TheSilkwormTheMagicianandTheSisterTree and tag me so we can help amplify your efforts.
• You can talk up my book to your network of friends, family members, and co-workers who you think would enjoy it or would be helped by it.
• When the book comes out in May, you can review it on Amazon or Goodreads. I am told that positive reviews make a huge impact on sales!
• Invite me to speak at your organization or book group. I have been part of a wonderful book group for over thirty years and I would love visiting yours!

Thank you so much for all of your incredible support and love during my caregiving journey, my grief journey, and my publishing journey. I know that together we will be able to bring light to those in our lives who need it.

—Suzy

About The Author

Suzy McNamara is an author, poet, mother of four, fundraiser, lawyer, Secular Carmelite, and widow. In 2024, she lost her husband of 37 years, Bob McNamara, to Posterior Cortical Atrophy, an aggressive form of early-onset Alzheimer’s, after caring for him for five years in their home. Months before her husband died, her sister and best friend, Elizabeth Muslin, died from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

She dove into her grief and trauma to write this memoir as both a love letter to her husband and her sister, and to begin a conversation with her fellow caregivers and sisters-in-arms in the battle of loss and grief. As Suzy writes, grief is a lonely sport and building community and companionship is key to survival. Suzy writes honestly about the physical and emotional challenges of caregiving, but also celebrates the magic of love and connection with the ones she lost and the ones who walked with her during the journey of loss.

Suzy shared her lifelong love of books, movies, and music with her husband and her sister and  now finds great joy in sharing those interests with her children. She fights back the loneliness of grief by immersing herself in her sustaining faith practices and by surrounding herself with those four wonderful adult children and the community of friends that she and her husband built together. 

For more information, you can connect with Suzy on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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