Fault Line Boy
A Mother's Reckoning with Epilepsy
$29.75
- Paperback
256 pages
- Release Date
17 November 2026
Summary
For readers of Joan Didion and Emily Rapp Black, Fault Line Boy follows one mother through the whiplash of raising a child with severe epilepsy. A clear-eyed memoir of medical motherhood, marriage under strain, and the hard-won joy that still finds its way in.
How do you stay upright in a world that won’t stop shaking?
When her youngest son, Lew, begins experiencing relentless seizures, the life Jen Murphy Parker thought she knew—and the ordinary chaos of raising four…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9798896363965 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Jen Murphy Parker |
| Publisher: | She Writes Press |
| Imprint: | She Writes Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 256 |
| Release Date: | 17 November 2026 |
| Weight: | 210g |
| Dimensions: | 140mm x 216mm |
Critics Review
“Jen Murphy Parker’s Fault Line Boy is an unforgettable story of what it’s like for motherhood to not turn out exactly as expected. Whether Jen is trying to understand her son’s seizures or trying to make sense of the lessons of her life, she writes with honesty, humor, and grace.”—Chelsea Hodson, author of Tonight I’m Someone Else
“Fault Line Boy is a magnificent book. Parker’s gorgeous writing—infused with wisdom, warmth, and grace—bursts off the page. It’s moving, fast-moving, and profoundly powerful. Laughter and hope where you least expect it. A flat-out superb memoir. And fair warning: you’re about to fall in love with a boy named Lew.”—Dave Isay, Peabody award winner, Macarthur Fellow and Founder of StoryCorps, and author of Callings
Jen Murphy Parker
Jen Murphy Parker earned her master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and is the author of a monthly Substack newsletter praised by Bloomsbury editor Callie Garnett for its “shrewd, palliative voice and thoughtful approach to the big questions found in life’s smallest moments.” Her essays have appeared in Hobart, Heimat Review, Cleaver Magazine, and other literary outlets.
In partnership with Dr. Joseph Sullivan, Lew’s neurologist, Jen raised more than $2 million to establish a pediatric center for comprehensive epilepsy care at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital.
The mother of four children, she lives in Hillsborough, California, with her husband and youngest son.
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