Reading Jane: A Daughter’s Memoir and the book tour “Surviving the Narcissistic Mother”

October through November 2023, 12 Stops on Eastern Seaboard

As the estimation of narcissism and its impact on children grows, more people are identifying as the children of such an upbringing. They have been raised by a parent whose sense of self-importance overshadowed the child, the child existing rather as an extension of a parental self that lacks empathy and often exploits their child. It’s estimated that nearly 60 million people are damaged by such relational patterns. Children of such parents are vulnerable to poor self-esteem, lack of boundaries, and co-dependence.

Having emerged on the other side of this phenomenon, Susannah Kennedy, author of Reading Jane: A Daughter’s Memoir launches a book tour along the East Coast Fall 2023, addressing her path to healing. It wasn’t an easy one, and might not have been achieved at all had Susannah’s mother not inexplicably taken her own life at age 75. When Susannah discovered 45 years of Jane’s diaries, she had a portal into the narrative her mother created and lived. Susannah avoided plunging in for three years, until she was driven to do so, to understand finally the mystery her mother presented. What emerges is Susannah’s own story in contrast to her mother’s, and ultimately leads her finally to shake off the constraints set by Jane’s need to control both the narrative and her daughter.

Previous events on the West Coast have demonstrated that Susannah is not alone. Nearly 5 percent or 1 in 200 people suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and the sons and daughters are showing up at book events — to take from Susannah’s story of healing the hope they might finally understand and heal their own. The Reading Jane: Surviving the Narcissistic Mother Eastern Seaboard Tour will encompass 12 cities in October and November 2023: Boston and Gloucester, Massachusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; Owego and Woodstock, New York; Washington D.C.; Montrose and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Hilton Head Island and Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia. For details on dates, times, and locations, please see below.

About the author: Berkeley and Oxford-educated anthropologist Susannah Kennedy was born in India and raised in the United States. Later, she traveled extensively on her own, first in Italy, and then through the Middle East and India, settling for two years in Egypt before becoming a reporter in Dallas, Texas. At Oxford University, she specialized in Arab culture and politics, receiving her DPhil in social anthropology. She and her psychoanalyst husband lived and worked in Germany, raising three children in a thatched-roof farmhouse in the countryside outside Hamburg. Her mother’s suicide and its aftermath brought them back to California in 2017. They now reside in Marin County.

EVENTS

Owego, NY

Riverow Books – October 21, 2pm

187 Front St. Owego, New York 13827

Save your spot here. 

Montrose, PA

Reimel Center – October 22, 3pm

158 Church St Montrose Pennsylvania 18801

Save your spot here. 

Philadelphia, PA

Head House Books – October 25, 6:30pm

619 South 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-2410 (map)

Save your spot here.

Woodstock, NY

The Golden Notebook – TBA

29 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY

Save your spot here (link to come).

Woodstock, NY

Graveside Variety – October 28, 12pm

33 Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY 12498

Save your spot here.

Washington, DC

Georgetown Neighborhood Library – November 5, 2pm

3260 R St. NW, Washington, DC 20007

Save your spot here.

Hilton Head Island, SC

Hilton Head Island Library – November 17, 3pm

Hilton Head Island Library 11 Beach City Rd, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

Save your spot here.

Summerville, SC

Main Street Books – November 19, 1pm

115 South Main Street Summerville, SC 29483

Save your spot here.