I appreciated Martha Siede sharing their story with the reader, it worked well with what I was looking for and was engaged with what was happening. It was written well and was invested in what was happening.

3.5 stars.

A heartbreaking yet inspirational read that focuses on Martha Siede's journey to make herself heard at a time when no one would listen.

This autobiography, by Martha Siede is an exploration of how her family, friends and faith have supported her growth and determination to be herself.

“Family makes you who you are. By believing in me, they gave me a solid foundation to give life a good go. I was given responsibility, I was accepted for my limitations, and above all, I was loved.”

She grew up in Western Sydney and shares about her experience as a woman with cerebral palsy and her pursuit of ‘normal’, particularly following a hip replacement operation that goes awry, resulting in one hundred and thirteen days spent in hospital and rehabilitation. This insight into her experiences as a person with a physical disability, with health professionals and the reliance upon the support network while in hospital, and especially in supporting the return home was a valuable read.

“People with disabilities generally have a different healthcare experience from their counterparts without disability.”

I enjoyed the aspects of this book that focused on accessibility, advocacy, employment, healthcare, support services, as well as her foundational relationships. The ‘in pursuit’ summary at the end of each chapter was a wonderful addition, as was the title for each chapter.

With thanks to Atmosphere Press and NetGalley, for the digital review copy, for review consideration with an honest review.

Having encountered so many different physical and mental health issues including the long battle with IVF; her time in a coma and a life with a rare form of cerebral palsy there is certainly a lot of experience drawn on in this book. Martha provides fascinating insights into her life in a series of reminiscent topic and event diary style reflections. At times this method of reflection can be a bit confusing chronologically, however it also gave us a glimpse into Martha’s world in connection to different events and her daily tasks and practices.

What is made very clear throughout the book is the inability of the medical profession including hospitals to care for those with disabilities and the heavy reliance the profession has on family support. While for Martha she had family including a husband who could stay at the hospital and provide much of the essential care (that should have been given by staff), it makes it even more concerning for those who don’t have that family support available. It was horrifying enough reading of the authors experiences but also terrifying to think of anyone trying to navigate any of this on their own.

The love and enjoyment of Andrew and Martha’s dogs was something I particularly liked hearing about throughout the book; and i’m so glad they had Bronte, Pupa and Pixie in their lives. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for review; and thanks to Martha for sharing something of her story.

a huge thank you to netgalley, atmosphere press and author, martha siede for this ARC/ epub in exchange for a review.
i so wanted to like this book more and i want to be as fair as i can but there’s some aspects of this book that i personally would not want to recommend out as a disabled creator, sharing as up to date information and keeping abreast of feelings within the community.
i didn’t feel this was written for me as a disabled person. the name of the book is “in pursuit of normal”. the title when i looked over the ARC request almost felt like a jest but it felt as the book continued that it was not. there’s discussions like family praying for illness to subside(the author has cerebral palsy) to allow them to live in another country. i think this is fine but also read a bit off with other topics in the book. there’s also lots of phrasing like “special needs” which is fine if that’s what the author prefers but i prefer not to feed into or talk about disability in this way. my needs are not special, simply adaptive. i have the same needs and wants, it’s not a specialty.
a lot of the book feels like the author wanted to tell us everything about their life and i love that but from a readers perspective, not all is engaging to read. we would glaze over something large but have a few pages to follow talking about food or very minuscule details. this made it harder to read.
what i did love in this book however, is stories that are unique to the disabled experience. i would read and happily enjoy another book where the author talks about their travels and adaptive experiences. how cool is it that they like indoor skydiving? i didn’t know much about adaptive skiing and found the adaptive surfing so cool. i really wish this took up more of the book. i think the author has a lot of really cool stories to tell but to make the book more readable i would niche down.
truly, thank you for selecting me, and i hope this comes off as fair as possible. i want nothing more to elevate disabled voices through books and love seeing a disabled author doing what they love.