Raya's story
In the midst of an undiagnosed bipolar episode, eighteen-year-old mother Raya commits an irrevocable crime, causing social services to intervene and take her infant away. She finds herself in jail, alone and childless, yearning for nothing more than a sweet connection with her baby daughter. Found unfit to stand trial, Raya winds up in a locked psychiatric ward. There she must grapple with her own conscience over what she has done, the knowledge that she can never regain the lost years with her daughter, and the unpredictable nature of her illness. With no reason to get better, days soon stretch into years.
Just when hope seems out of reach, she meets a spirited young woman at her support group who lives with the same illness as Raya. There is something hauntingly familiar about her. Could it be...?
Spanning two decades, Raya's story chronicles her recovery, as well as her redemptive journey, which transports her from the hospital ward to life "on the outside." She learns to revel in her new roles as mother, grandmother, writer, and compassionate friend. Lullabies in Bedlam is a novel about heartbreaking loss, the unshakeable bond between mother and daughter, and the sacrifices we as parents make to protect our loved ones, even as mental illness threatens to tear our world apart.
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