The Heart and Other Monsters: A Memoir

Essayist Andersen’s debut memoir is the riveting and raw story of her dysfunctional childhood and her younger sister’s 2013 death from a meth overdose. Andersen and her sister grow up in California, with an artist mother and a father with writing aspirations who cheats on his spouse, lies, and verbally abuses his family. The couple divorces when the girls are four and 10, and their mother temporarily partners with an emotionally abusive boyfriend. As they grow older, each sister becomes drawn to drugs: Andersen becomes dependent on cocaine and alcohol (she later quits both, and conquers Hodgkin’s lymphoma), but Sarah—drawn to opioids, heroin, and methadone—is unsuccessful in her attempts to get clean through rehab. Andersen is critical yet protective toward her sibling, and blames herself for not being more understanding and patient though she tries to support Sarah’s rehabilitation. After Sarah is found dead from an overdose at age 24, Andersen scours the coroner’s report and later court transcripts, delving into evidence suggesting that Sarah’s lethal dose was not accidental, but rather, administered by a man who thought she knew too much about a heinous crime he had committed . This tragic tale of addiction will resonate deeply with readers. [em](July) [/em]