Then There Was No Mountain: A Parallel Odyssey of a Mother and Daughter Through Addiction: The Parallel Odyssey of a Mother and Daughter Through Addiction

An unflinching, honest account of a mother’s long struggle to save her troubled daughter. Set against vivid backgrounds of Western and New England landscapes, it is an engrossing story, all the more because many readers will feel a pang of recognition at the hard issues facing contemporary parents, whether they come from tiny, wind-swept ranch towns or affluent east coast cities. . . . A beautiful and compelling book.–Craig Lesley, author of The Sky Fishermen and Storm Riders

If your mission is to lay bare “the parallel odyssey of a mother and daughter through addiction,” unfailing, unblinking honesty is your starting line. But only if you have a feel for the written word that is stronger than the heartache you must describe can you deliver a narrative as powerful as [Waterston’s]. . . . But the illuminating force of this book is Waterston’s pacing, her subtle detail of life on Oregon’s High Desert, her metaphors, and her choreography with the language. Perhaps the compelling frankness of Then There Was No Mountain is possible because after years of sever and troubled darkness, pages of honest emotion seem like steps of light.–Steve Duin, The Oregonian

The author is my sister. This is the main reason I know about this book, but not the main reason I strongly urge you to get it and read it. It is strong medicine. It is written from the heart, with eyes wide open.–Sam Waterston, star of NBC’s Law & Order

Good Morning America‘s Diane Sawyer interviewed Ellen Waterston in January 2004 citing Then There Was No Mountain as a must-read.

Then There Was No Mountain is a “must read”!– “More Magazine”

Then There Was No Mountain is a book about how one person’s substance abuse can turn the lives of loved ones upside down and inside out, requiring drastic self-exploration and extreme intervention for the other family members to recover.–Lon Woodbury “Woodbury Reports, Inc”

Then There Was No Mountain was chosen as one of the northwest’s top ten books of 2003 by The Oregonian, December 28, 2003!

[A] More must read.– “More”

Full of honesty, heartbreak, and revelation.– “San Jose Mercury News”

Her book should help others who are blindly navigating their way back to health and normalcy.– “Publishers Weekly”

One of the top 10 Northwest books– “Oregonian”

Only if you have a feel for the written word that is stronger than the heartache you must describe can you deliver a narrative as powerful as Ellen Waterston’s.– “Oregonian”

Waterston bravely revisits a painful period of her life . . . her book should help others who are blindly navigating, their way back to health and normalcy.– “Publishers Weekly”

Waterston’s book is a brave undertaking and a gift to us all.– “True Story”