Please join us for selected readings, author Q&A, book sales and signing. FREE event.
In Samantha’s Rose Swartz’ newest book, Giving Up the Ghost, A Daughter’s Memoir, what begins as a solitary journey of grief shifts form when her mother slips back from the darkness beyond to reconcile her irreversible choice. Raw, deeply revealing, and with resilient humor throughout, Giving Up the Ghost explores the layered complexity of mental health, the love between mothers and daughters, and how, in the aftermath of inconceivable loss, we can release our inner ghosts and write a new story for ourselves.
Susan Swartz was part of a large circle of friends and neighbors in Sebastopol and West County, was a well-known local journalist, book author, and beloved by many for her warmth, wit, and insatiable curiosity. Her Sunday pieces in the Press Democrat about Sonoma County were very popular and read by many. She became a columnist for the paper and also read on-air commentaries for KRCB public radio.
Samantha grew up in Sebastopol with her two stepsisters, her mother and stepfather Bob Klose, also a reporter for the Press Democrat. Klose died on Nov. 21, 2019, after a long fight with cancer, and Swartz took her own life not three months later when she jumped from a tall cliff at Bodega Head on Feb. 25, 2020. She was 76. Her dramatic suicide stunned our community, and the finality of her story has never been told until now.
Samantha Rose is an Emmy-award winning television writer, author and a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling ghostwriter who collaborates with people to put their thoughts, ideas and life experiences into writing. She never thought that one day she might write a book about conversations with a ghost, and that the subject would be her mother. The mother-daughter conversations are the heart of the book. “I did write this book for myself,” Rose admits. “But I also wrote it for her. I felt my mom still had more things to say and for all of us to talk about.”
In her interview with Rollie Atkinson for The Sebastopol Times, Rose said she hopes readers will remember her mother and appreciate all of her complexities and enthusiasm and joy she brought to all her conversations and writings. “I also hope people will have conversations about mental health and maybe have conversations with each other that my mother and I didn’t get to have.”
Selected readings by the author, followed by on-stage conversation with fellow writer and close family friend, Miriam Silver, Q& A, book sales & signing. Free admission, donations gratefully accepted. Refreshments available for sale.
GIVING UP THE GHOST EDITORIAL ENDORSEMENTS
What they are saying about Giving Up the Ghost
“Heartbreaking, raw, honest, and inspiring… Samantha Rose takes us on a compelling journey as she bravely navigates her way through grief’s darkness, serving as a powerful reminder that love never dies and we are never truly alone.”
—Rebecca Rosen, author of the national and international bestseller, Spirited
“Samantha Rose’s mastery of words is a gift—Giving Up the Ghost is an intimate, unfiltered, heart wrenching and, at times, hilarious account of a family story forever changed by suicide. In these confusing and increasingly lonely times for us all, Rose’s memoir is a must read for anyone coping with grief and surviving loss.”
—Eve Rodsky, author of the New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick, Fair Play
“A beautifully written and piercing reflection on grief, the bonds between mothers and daughters and the importance of finding your own voice. Rose’s journey of resilience inspires us to dig deep for the answers that will set us free and that have the power to ripple outward and offer hope and healing to us all.”
—Cathy Heller, podcast host and author of Abundant Ever After
"Giving Up the Ghost is a beautiful memoir of a daughter's journey to attempt to process and eventually try to understand suicide, loss and grief. Incredibly gripping and moving, Rose takes the reader on her journey with honesty and vulnerability. For anyone who has ever felt alone in their grief, this book will provide you with connection, comfort and eventually hope."
-Sheryl Ziegler, PsyD, bestselling author of Mommy Burnout and The Crucial Years
“I devoured this memoir like the serving of spaghetti Samantha Rose uses to compare grief in my favorite passage, in which she describes sucking on the noodle of sadness and winding her fork around confusion before coming back to the meatball of anger. Giving Up the Ghost is a hearty, surprising, and, at times, delightful read. I found nourishment I didn’t know I needed within its pages—and I trust many other readers will feel the same.”—Courtney Cook, Author of The Way She Feels: My Life on the Borderline in Pictures and Pieces
"Every memoir is, for better or worse, a measure of the author's courage. In Giving Up the Ghost, Samantha Rose shoulders emotional freight with extraordinary valor, grace, and sure-handed storytelling. This achingly honest account of a complicated grieving process is sure to stir raw emotion and vibrant book club discussions."
– Joni Rodgers, New York Times bestselling author/ghostwriter
“Rose’s searingly honest memoir is both heart-wrenching and profoundly heartfelt. With raw vulnerability, she explores the intricate bonds between mothers and daughters—the stories we inherit, the lengths we go to protect, and the deep wounds left by what remains unspoken. In the aftermath of her mother’s suicide, Rose bravely searches for meaning. Through her journey with her therapeutic guide, B, she illuminates the quiet alchemy of healing—it is when we feel seen, known, and safe, that we can bend without breaking, gather our fractured pieces, reclaim our strength, and step fully into life.”
--Dr. Tanya Cotler, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist specializing in maternal mental health and parent-child attachment.