Bad wiring, big hearts.

Patsy Truxaw's large Irish Catholic family, bound by love but frayed by "bad wiring," faces the unthinkable when a tragic car accident claims the life of one sibling at barely twenty-one years old.

Set at the family home in Anaheim, and later migrating to communities along California's coastline, Truxaw's memoir explores the depths of grief, addiction, and mental illness while uncovering the fierce resilience that keeps a family connected. Through moments of loving chaos, heartbreak, and humor, Gathering reveals an enduring bond that transcends life's harshest realities.

With incisive storytelling and raw honesty, Truxaw's memoir is a testament to the power of familial bonds in the face of unimaginable pain.

"This is a tender loving story of a very large family with very large problems, told with deep wisdom and caring. As an only child who lost her father at a young age, I am fascinated by this look into family grief." ?Kathleen Lenski, author of The Daughter of Vladimir Lenski: Memoir of a Child Prodigy Violinist

"With compassion, honesty, and grace, Truxaw evokes the turmoils of her California family as well as of the time: the late sixties to the present day. Gathering is a universal story about the power of love to both break and heal us." ?L.H. Finigan, author of Love and War and Summer People (forthcoming in 2025)

"'We danced around with each other like wounded birds in the sand.' It takes a death in the family for Truxaw to discover that her dysfunctional family was blessed with 'bad wiring.' I could certainly relate to this story." ?Carole Wagener, author of The Hardest Year: A Love Story in Letters During the Vietnam War