The eagerly anticipated sequel to the number one best-selling, prize-winning true story - A Girl Behind Dark Glasses – Jessica Taylor Bearman’s story continues and needs to be heard, as the battle against the M.E. Monster rages war against the millions of people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis around the world. What came next for Jessica, who spent her four years growing from a teen to young adult in a hospital bed?

So many unexpected things - from the heartbreaking to the positively incredible - have happened to author, wife, now mum, Jessica, since A Girl Behind Dark Glasses was published in 2018. The popularity of her blog, The World of One Room, has reached epic proportions, she’s celebrated her first wedding anniversary with new husband Samuel, and given birth to a beautiful baby girl called Felicity. Jessica’s charity work at Share A Star has helped so many people. And her debut book, which boasts bestseller status, has truly made its mark, opening up the conversation about M.E. and raising awareness about this much misunderstood illness. In July 2020, it even won the Non-Fiction Award in The People’s Book Prize 2020! Now, it’s time for the next chapter in Jessica’s journey… A Girl In One Room is due for release in February 2021.

About the book…

Jessica returns home after four years in hospital to a world changed beyond recognition. Her friends have grown up and gone to university, her baby sister is now 16. Everyone has moved on, but she's stuck in a world of one room with her diary 'Bug'. The battle with the M.E. Monster is far from over as she faces new challenges: coming to terms with the life she was robbed of and her yearn to lead a 'normal' life as a young adult. A true story of hope, courage and positivity continues…

About the incredible author…

Jessica Taylor-Bearman was born in March 1991, at Maidstone Hospital in England. She grew up in Rochester and Canterbury, Kent, where she attended Rochester Grammar School for Girls. At the age of 15, she became acutely unwell with an illness called M.E. She was continuously hospitalised from 2006 to 2010, suffering with the most severe form of the condition. This included her being bedridden, unable to move, speak, eat and more. She began to write in her mind, and when finally able to speak again, she began to write through her audio diary 'Bug'. In 2009, Jessica began to teach herself to paint through the movement of laughter. She realised that through balancing a paintbrush in her hand, laughter caused it to move, creating a new form of art that she called a 'Laugh-O-Gram'. Her first collection was exhibited in the Canterbury Art Festival 2009. All her pieces have been exhibited since then. In 2010, whilst still in hospital, she founded a charity called Share a Star, to help seriously unwell youngsters. It is now a registered charity that she continues to run. Since she left hospital, Jessica's journey with severe M.E. has continued to be very challenging. She writes a blog called The World of One Room and made a YouTube video of the same name that has reached tens of thousands of people in multiple countries. In 2017 she married her soulmate Samuel and walked down the aisle. They now live together in Essex, having recently moved from her home county of Kent. In 2019, they had a beautiful baby daughter.