title: Released: Conversations on the Eve of Freedomauthor: Melissa Moore, Michele Matrisciani, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard
published: 1 January 2024
publisher: BenBella Books
genre(s): memoir
pages: 118
source: bought
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads
rating:
the blurb
Gypsy-Rose Blanchard discovered that her whole life was a lie. After eight-and-a-half years of incarceration, she can finally tell you the truth—with this exclusive collection of interview transcripts and journal entries, plus her own illustrations and photos.
While incarcerated for her role in her mother’s death, Gypsy saw her story told by others again and again in the media, from news reports and podcasts to TV series like The Act (Hulu). Now, granted early parole and preparing to start a new life, she’s free to speak directly to her supporters and the world.
Falsely told that she suffered from debilitating, chronic illnesses, Gypsy grew up enduring physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother Dee Dee, including unnecessary medication and surgery. But her desperate attempts to escape a lifetime of isolation led Gypsy into the grip of another abuser, ultimately resulting in her mother’s murder.
Released is Gypsy’s frank, unflinching, and deeply personal reflection on her past, present, and hoped-for future, and includes:
• Exclusive interviews with Gypsy recorded during her time in prison• Gypsy’s contemplative writing on trust and betrayal, love and freedom, self-worth and identity, prison life, her marriage, and other personal issues• Personal photos, drawings, and other memories from years past
Created with writers Melissa Moore and Michele Matrisciani, Released is a declaration of Gypsy’s resolve to turn her pain into perseverance, take accountability for her actions, and help others escape the trap that circumscribed her life for so long.
- a few notes
- review
content warning: ❗some talk of violence and abuse❗
POV: 1st person
keywords/phrases: abuse, murder
tropes: n/a
spice: 0🔥
language: 0🤬
This short book consists of conversations via trancripts between Gypsy-Rose Blanchar and Melissa Moore over the months preceding Gypsy’s long-awaited release from prison. Between these conversations, Gypsy shares her thoughts on the the topics covered in these conversations. It is essentially for a full-length memoir expected later in the year.
I found it refreshing to hear things in her own voice after years of hearing her story told in every other voice BUT hers. To me, it was very clear how much she’s considered her past and her role within it. What also seems very clear is the deep level of caring she has for all involved, and for the world around her.
As a trailer, it served its purpose. I will be reading that memoir as soon as it releases!
About Melissa Moore
Melissa Moore is the executive producer of Lifetime’s The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, LMN’s Monster In My Family and REELZ The Friends Speak, iHeartpdocast ‘Happy Face’ and ‘Happy Face Presents Two Face’. Formerly, Melissa was the Crime Correspondent for the Dr. Oz Show (Sony) and Crime Watch Daily (Warner Brothers).
Moore was raised Melissa Jesperson, daughter of infamous “Happy Face” serial killer Keith Jesperson. Growing up in a small town in Washington state she survived the escalating trauma from her home life and the man she called her father. Moore shares her inspirational story in the bestselling memoir, Shattered Silence (CFI 2009) which has been featured on Oprah.
Today, Melissa works with crime survivors to tell their stories in memoir and media by hosting writing retreats.
About Michele Matrisciani
MICHELE MATRISCIANI is a New York Times bestselling editor and former Editorial Director of HCI Books—the original publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Specializing in memoir and prescriptive nonfiction and lifestyles, Michele served as an in-house acquisitions editor and developmental editor for fifteen years at several New York publishers, including Macmillan, Hyperion, and McGraw-Hill Trade.
In 2011, Michele founded Bookchic LLC, a full-service content development consulting company. Her unique combined experience as a publisher, marketer, literary agent, and writer uniquely positions Michele as a valuable collaborator. Calling upon her background in pitching and packaging books and selling-in seasonal catalogues to buyers, Michele assists authors, literary agents, and publishers to creatively, commercially, and competitively deliver their messages and brands to a wide audience.
As a ghostwriter and collaborator Michele’s books have been published by Hay House, HarperOne, HarperCollins, St. Martin’s Press, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Skyhorse, and Rowman & Littlefield, to name a few. Her co-authored book WHOLE: How I Learned to Fill the Fragments of My Life with Forgiveness, Hope, Strength, and Creativity was published by Rodale in 2016 and received a starred Booklist review. Michele currently is pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Stony Brook University.
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reading challenges:
- 2024 52 Books Reading Challenge
- 2024 Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge
- 2024 Linz the Bookworm Reading Challenge
- 2024 PopSugar Reading Challenge
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