Never Simple

At eighteen, Liz Scheier learned her entire childhood was built on a foundation of lies. Her mother, Judith, a charismatic yet deeply troubled woman, revealed that the man Liz believed to be her deceased father was a complete fabrication, and that Judith had been secretly married for most of Liz's life to a man she had never known. This confession unravels a lifetime of eccentricities, hidden incomes, and a fabricated past, all carefully constructed by a mother whose devotion often crossed into obsession and deception, particularly when in the grips of mental illness.

Years later, as her mother's dementia progresses and further truths are inadvertently exposed, Liz embarks on a journey to piece together the real story of her origins and her family. This memoir explores the enduring complexities of a mother-daughter bond shaped by profound secrets, the legacy of mental illness, and the search for identity amidst a chaotic upbringing. It is a story of resilience, compassion, and the difficult path to understanding what is owed to parents, even those who fail, and how to forge a "normal" life from decidedly abnormal roots.