Incorrigible by Wendy Adamson

In her debut memoir, MOTHER LOAD, Wendy Adamson shared her story of landing in county jail after shooting her husband’s mistress and ultimately finding freedom from addiction. Her latest book, INCORRIGIBLE, acts as a prequel, taking us back to growing up with a mom who was a regular in the state mental hospital, only to find herself institutionalized there as a teen.  

Adamson’s memoir recounts a girl’s spiral of self-destruction in the throes of unspoken grief after her mother’s suicide. Depressed and constantly at odds with an overwhelmed father, she runs away until she’s arrested by the police. At fourteen years old she finds herself plucked from a privileged life and forced to navigate the criminal justice system of probation officers, juvenile halls and foster homes.