All the Things We Never Knew

A reporter chases the biggest story of her life: her husband’s descent into mental illness.

Even as a reporter, Sheila Hamilton missed the signs as her husband David’s mental illness unfolded before her. By the time she had pieced together the puzzle, it was too late. Her once brilliant and passionate partner was dead within six weeks of a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, leaving his wife and nine-year-old daughter without so much as a note to explain his actions, a plan to help them recover from their profound grief, or a solution for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt that they would inherit from him.

All the Things We Never Knew takes readers on a breathtaking journey, from David and Sheila’s early romance through the last three months of their life together and into the year after his death. It details their unsettling spiral into the world of mental illness, examines the fragile line between reality and madness, and reveals the true power of love and forgiveness.

• "A boldly beautiful page-turner about loving and losing someone with mental illness. I'll be recommending this absorbing memoir for years to come."
  Cheryl Strayed, bestselling author of Wild
• "If you've ever asked the question 'Do I need help?' or 'Does my loved one need help?' then read this book.... [Sheila Hamilton] gives us permission not to go through hardship alone, no matter what crises we face."
  Laura Munson, New York Times-bestselling author of This is Not the Story You Think It Is and founder of Haven Writing Retreats
• "All the Things We Never Knew is so beautiful, so raw, and so powerful. It is, in a word, spectacular, and Sheila Hamilton is so generous and brave to share this story with the rest of the world. Anyone who has struggled with mental illness -- their own, their family members', their friends' (which is to say, all of us) -- will come away from this deeply human book feeling less alone."
  Kelly Williams Brown, bestselling author of Adulting
• "A bold and honest book that takes the stigma out of mental illness and explores the terrible and beautiful angles when a loved one suffers from bipolar disorder."
  Lee Woodruff, bestselling author of In an Instant
• "One of the most candid, heart-wrenching, and deeply moving accounts of the wake of destruction caused by the suicide of a loved one."
  Kevin Hines, author of Cracked, Not Broken