'The Firing Line is the compelling true story of a girl growing up with her family from the mid-1950s. The ensuing few decades become a time when everyday life for her mother, brother and sister, and herself, changed when their father became mentally ill with manic depressive psychosis (now known as bipolar disorder), and then became addicted to prescribed barbiturates washed down with alcohol. Anecdotes of happy and tragic times are dotted with spot fires, and actual fires. Striving for a ‘normal’ family the reader is taken on a journey through the vagaries of childhood, and turbulent teens into adulthood. An emotional roller-coaster of pathos, aggression and fear, is juxtaposed against humorous coping skills. Dreams, love and loss, collateral damage and resilience uncover the truth about nearly forgotten times ultimately pierced by indelible memories.' (Publication summary)
