No One Gets to Fall Apart

A Memoir

By: Sarah LaBrie

Narrated by: Sarah LaBrie

Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award

A New York Times ""Editor's Pick"" and ""Notable Book of the Year"" * An Essence ""Most Anticipated"" * A Lit Hub's ""Most Anticipated"" * An Oprah Daily ""Best Book of Fall"" * An Esquire ""Best Memoir of the Year"" * A San Francisco Chronicle ""New Book for a Season of Change"" * A Zibby Owens ""Most Anticipated"" * An NPR ""Books We Love"" *

“Brilliant . . . stunning . . . deserves a place alongside modern classics like Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle and Tara Westover’s Educated.” —Susannah Cahalan, New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire

“A triumph.”—Lorrie Moore, author of I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home

In this poignant memoir, as candid and indelible as The Glass Castle and Memorial Drive, a writer takes on the conflict between the love that binds us to home and the desire to escape it for good.

On a highway in Houston, Texas, Sarah LaBrie’s mother was found screaming at passing cars, terrified she would be murdered by invisible assailants. The diagnosis of schizophrenia that followed compelled Sarah to rethink her childhood, marked at turns by violence and all-consuming closeness.

Digging into the events that led to her mother’s break, Sarah traces her family history of mental illness, from the dysphoria that plagued her great-grandmother, a granddaughter of slaves, to her own experience with depression as a scholarship student at Brown. At the same time, she navigates a decades-long fixation on a novel she can’t finish but can't abandon, her complicated feelings about her white partner, and a fraught friendship colored by betrayal.

Spanning the globe from Houston’s Third Ward to Paris to Tallinn and New York to Los Angeles, No One Gets to Fall Apart is an unflinching chronicle of one woman's attempt to forge a new future through a better understanding of the past.

Love!

What many of us having survived childhood with mental illness in our families feel. Beautifully written.

raw and honest

made me feel like the pain she writes about is universal, personal to my story, eventhough her story is unique- a measure of great talent

Overcoming Struggle

I appreciate how the author poured out her struggle with a mentally ill mother. Living in a family with severe mental health issues is more common and complicated than many realize. It was a bit depressing, but fairly well written.

I loved it so much

Sarah LaBrie’s *No One Gets to Free Out Fall Apart* is an unflinching exploration of a deeply sensitive topic that resonates profoundly within many African-American families: mental illness. Sarah courageously pulls back the veil, offering readers an unvarnished depiction of what it’s like to live within a brilliant, productive Black family that has, for generations, faced the complexities of mental health challenges.

Her honesty is refreshing and necessary. In many Black families, the presence of mental illness is often treated with silent acceptance or hidden away, a legacy of survival in a society that stigmatizes both race and mental health. Sarah addresses this with grace and clarity, weaving personal stories that show how mental illness, when unaddressed, can reverberate through generations, sometimes threatening the very fabric of family unity.

What sets this memoir apart is Sarah’s ability to hold space for both the pain and the triumph. She shines a light on the importance of understanding, acceptance, and support—while also showing the resilience required to navigate life alongside mental illness. Her family’s willingness to confront their struggles publicly is both bold and inspiring, giving readers permission to reflect on their own experiences and encouraging open conversations about this often-taboo subject.

Sarah’s journey is a testament to strength and survival, not just for herself but for all families grappling with mental health challenges. This book is a must-read, not only for those directly impacted by mental illness but for anyone seeking to understand its ripple effects on families and communities.

Thank you, Sarah, for your bravery and your contribution to this critical conversation. *No One Gets to Free Out Fall Apart* is a powerful call to action for us all to support one another and to find more compassionate ways to live with and address mental illness.

—Dr. Mildred Ball Bright

authenticity + honesty + courage= pathway to healing

The amazing memoir that remarkably allowed me to see myself as I never have and to make a tremendous step toward health. allowed me to learn more about the broken parts of me…and most importantly to make a tremendous step on my pathway.