Wow, this book was hard to read. Not because it's poorly written (it's not), nor because it's not interesting (it is), but because it just makes the reader feel SUPER uncomfortable. Knowing that this is a true story, watching Chaplin's descent into madness is awful. At first, I mostly felt annoyed by her behavior - her inability (or unwillingness?) to recognize her issues and deal with them resulted in her treating people close to her pretty badly. Then I started to feel alternately embarrassed for and genuinely sad for her, as she started to vacillate wildly between manic highs and REALLY low lows. Finally, I could feel her terror as she full-on had psychotic breaks with reality and finally acknowledged the trauma that had happened to her and set off this spiraling mental anguish for her whole life. This was an incredibly powerful story, told through Chaplin's actual diary entries from this time in her life, and she's incredibly brave for putting it all out there. But this is not for the faint of heart.

I am a sucker for a good memoir and this ticks all the right boxes. Drama? Check. Relatable? Check. Romance? Check. More drama? Check, check, check. As someone who's kept a journal all of my life it was riveting to read someone else's thoughts on navigating adulthood, womanhood specifically and how even the most seemingly together person suffers hiccups, sometimes multiple, on the journey of life.

Out of love with her morose husband, the passion long since killed, Heather Chaplin changes her life, and finally separates from him. But while it’s her choice, and she may expect to be able to sail on happily, she finds that she spirals downward into a vortex of confusion, fear, and lust and love for a stranger across the seas in Ireland. This memoir is fast-paced, compelling – a reckless journey indeed, and one many of us embark on at some or other point in our lives. Chaplin’s writing is wonderfully readable, and her observations pithy, witty and sometimes sadly so.
“Do you realize— that you have the most beautiful face. Do you realize— that everyone you know, someday, will die.”

“Why is it that happiness remembered feels like despair?”

“It’s funny, isn’t it. At the end of the day, there really is nothing that will save you— no man, no medicine. Just the moments as they tick by.”

Highly recommended.

This is one of the most unique memoirs I’ve read to date. Author Heather Chaplin tells her story through the Moleskine journals she started keeping the day she realized she no longer loved her husband. After finding the courage to leave her unhappy marriage, she is free to experience one adventure after another, and she lives life vivaciously but also at times recklessly. I admire the things she shared about herself and the details she did not hold back. Not many people would share their inner voices with the world without a fair amount of sugar-coating. But this brave and remarkable woman does just that. I could tell you a bit about what happens within these pages and try to keep it spoiler-free, but why would I when Heather does such a remarkable job of telling you herself? The settings are fantastic, my favorite being her visit to Dublin; and her encounters throughout the book are fascinating. This autobiography is utterly absorbing and sometimes heartbreaking – but ultimately, inspiring. Her garden epiphany made me sob and then smile. Ms. Chaplin’s writing is beautiful; it is so honest, her story so authentic, that I was incapable of putting it down, and I implore you to pick it up.

Based on notebooks she kept between April 2006 and July 2008, Journalist Heather Chaplin chronicles this period of her life in an impressively open and brutal manner. Having felt trapped in a frustrating marriage for over ten years, she finally decides enough is enough and forces a separation from her husband whom she resents deeply by now. Setting out on a journey of self-discovery which also takes her to Dublin, she re-invents herself as a free and single person, falls for an Irishman, and discovers a lot about love, relationships, memories, gardening, and the value of friendships, amongst other things. As her free-spirited life spirals increasingly out of control, darkness and depression set in and she has to face up to some uncomfortable truths.
At times, this made me laugh out loud. At times, it made me cringe. At times, it was very sad and emotional. Being inside the mind of a woman who became increasingly out of control and was suffering, was a very intense reading experience. A very brave and unique memoir that I would definitely recommend.
Contains strong language and sexual content.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.

A poignant and somewhat rambling memoir that takes place during a rough time in the authors life; a separation and its aftermath. That being said we follow Heather on her exploits and travails as well as her travels as she tries to take back her life, though there are a lot of setbacks along the way. Sadness, pain, humor and the indomitable human spirit paint the tapestry that comprises the Reckless Years.

When Heather Chaplin began editing her writing of a two year time period, she required unflinching honesty for her memoir: “Reckless Years: A Diary of Love and Madness”. This is a profound and riveting chronicle of the dissolution of her 13 year marriage, adventurous reinvention of her life as a single woman and journalist, of mental illness and the shattering breakdown that nearly claimed her life.

In 2006, it seemed to be a wise decision that Chaplin had the courage to dump her unemployed verbally abusive husband, Josh. Naturally, there were two sides to the story. An overall view of Chaplin’s marriage would emerge later in the story. Chaplin had a close relationship with her brother Seth, and a few supportive friendships since grade school, she would need to rely on.

Seth invited newly single Chaplin to join him in Ireland with the famous band he was touring with. In the party atmosphere she fell in love with Kieran, a handsome and utterly charming divorced Irishman. The story is a whirlwind of activity and excitement in her NYC area, the intensity of a new love interest, writing assignments, famous authors, parties and events at literary venues. Chaplin’s friends were all in committed relationships or getting married and having children, she helped care for a friend’s child after a car accident ended tragically.

Kieran seemed to avoid contact with Chaplin for long stretches of time, the loneliness, anxiety, insomnia, and meaningless encounters with a variety of men left her troubled and deeply insecure. Chaplin’s writing about her obvious mood disorder and the breakdown that followed was highly detailed and fascinating, discontinuing her medication placed her in a precarious position.
By 2008, life for Chaplin may not have turned out the way she initially desired, though loving others as much she did, helped her realize a base of self-awareness, insight, and the will and strength to get well and move forward with her life. Heather Chaplin is a professor and founder of the Journalism + Design at The New School University. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. ~ With appreciation and thanks to Simon Schuster via NetGalley for the direct e-copy for the purpose of review.

This book was so disconnected. Wanted to get into it, finished it but wasn't worth my time.