A Girl In One Room by Jessica Taylor-Bearman ~ Book Review
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Hello friends,
If you’ve been reading my articles for a while then you’ll know I love to write book reviews. I enjoy telling you all about the books I’ve been reading and my thoughts on them. But sometimes I come across a book that makes such a huge impact on me, that I find myself struggling to put my thoughts into words - in a good way. A Girl In One Room by Jessica Taylor-Beaman is one such book! But I’m going to do my best to tell you all about this book and my thoughts because Jessica’s story is an important one and the more people that read it, the better.
ID: A picture of the book, A Girl In One Room. It has a white cover with multi coloured birds on the it.
A Girl In One Room is actually Jessica’s second book, her first book, A Girl Behind Dark Glasses was published back in 2018. In that first book, Jessica details how she became sick at aged 15 and was diagnosed with a Neurological disease called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or M.E. It covers her first four years of being hospitalised with M.E in its severest form. The second book, A Girl In One Room, picks up where the first book left off and Jessica is home and essentially living in one room.
This book, which covers Jessica’s life from 2010 to 2017, is an incredibly honest and open portrayal of what M.E is like to have. The M.E Monster, as Jessica refers to it as, impacts even the smallest part of a person’s life and causes all sorts of complications for the person simply trying to live. Jessica definitely doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of having M.E and the limits it has put on her life. Yet, through everything she has and does experience because of having M.E, Jessica’s hope and determination shines through each chapter.
“The M.E Monster... couldn’t deprive me of my hope.”
Many with M.E feel unheard, they can spend years fighting for a diagnosis or for some kind of treatment. Those with Severe or Very Severe M.E can literally lose their ability to speak, something Jessica is familiar with. By sharing her story, highlighting the numerous symptoms and complexes of M.E, Jessica is giving a voice to those have none. She’s showing the world that M.E is far from “just feeling tired” which is so important as it truly highlights how serious this disease is and fights against the stigma that people with M.E experience on a daily basis. Personally, as someone with Moderate/Severe M.E, I’m so incredibly grateful to Jessica for using her precious energy to tell her story.
ID: A picture of the books, A Girl Behind Dark Glasses and A Girl In One Room. The books are stood on a bookshelf with a fox shaped pot with a plant in it next to them.
As you can imagine, reading this book as someone with M.E, can be difficult at times. While knowing the full realities of this disease, it’s not easy reading about someone else experiencing them as well, especially when your own thoughts and feelings are being echoed at times. But in a strange way, it’s also comforting to know you’re not alone in your struggles and diagnosis. M.E can take away your independence and ability to do the things many don’t even think about doing. Things like being able to feed yourself, sit in a chair or even roll onto your side while in bed and trying to achieve these things, as Jessica aims to do, have to broken down into even smaller, more manageable tasks in order to accomplish them. In many ways, M.E makes you learn how to do the basics in new ways and to make the most of every achievement, no matter how small it may seem. Jessica highlights this so beautifully throughout her book as she relates her goals and dreams.
As I mentioned above, A Girl In One Room spans the years of 2010 to 2017. After experiencing M.E symptoms from the age of 12, I was finally diagnosed in 2013 and while reading Jessica’s experiences, I couldn’t help but think about my own during those years; The fights for specialist referrals and trying alternative treatments, all the while trying to figure out adapting my life to try and co-exist with M.E the best I could/can.
“I wanted to learn to live with the M.E Monster, not fight against him”
I also became a part of the online M.E community during that time and began to meet so many amazing people ~ including Jessica. So from around 2014/15, certain events or moments that are mentioned in the book, I remember either seeing on social media or being a part of. The huge event that Jessica ends the book with, {I won’t mention what it is because spoilers and if you know Jessica, then you know anyway!} I clearly remember as if it was yesterday. I remember watching the video Jessica shared online relating to it and just cried because I knew the energy and effort it took for Jessica to achieve what she did. That video and the way Jessica writes about that moment in the book, is just pure joy despite the ever present M.E Monster and it truly shows Jessica’s determination and hope ~ two characteristics that personify the M.E Community as a whole.
Overall, A Girl In One Room is such an incredibly eye-opening account of life with M.E, especially in its severest form. I am so truly grateful to Jessica for sharing her story, it is a privilege to know her and watch her progress over these past 6 or 7 years. So whether you have M.E or you’ve never heard of it and want to know exactly what this misunderstood Neurological disease is, then I’d really recommend picking up not only A Girl In One Room, but Jessica’s first book as well.
On a final note, I want to let you know that Jessica has an online Book tour for A Girl In One Room. The tour consists of 8 bloggers book reviews and it starts today {20th April} with my review and continues through to the 28th of April. If you follow the hashtag #AGirlInOneRoom on Social media you’ll be able to keep up with the tour and read all the other reviews over the next couple weeks.
ID: The Book Tour poster. It has a list of bloggers names and dates for their book reviews. There’s also a picture of the book and Jessica on it.
It’s such a privilege to not only be a part of the tour but to also start it off. I only hope my review has done Jessica’s wonderful book justice.
Stay Safe. Read a Book
L x
