OUT CAME THE SUN

Mariel Hemingway needs no introduction. With a last name like that immediate connections are made and most of them are bittersweet: extraordinary talent/enormous tragedy. OUT OF THE SUN is her moving, compelling memoir about growing up and escaping the tragic legacy of mental illness, suicide, addiction, and depression in one of America’s most famous families: the Hemingways.

She opens her eyes. The room is dark. She hears yelling, smashed plates, and wishes it was all a terrible dream. But it isn’t. This is what it was like growing up a Hemingway. In this deeply moving, searingly honest new memoir, actress and mental health icon Mariel Hemingway shares in candid detail the story of her troubled childhood in a famous family haunted by depression, alcoholism, illness, and suicide. Born just a few months after her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, shot himself, it was Mariel’s mission as a girl to escape the desperate cycles of severe mental health issues that had plagued generations of her family. Surrounded by a family tortured by alcoholism (both parents), depression (her sister Margaux), suicide (her grandfather and four other members of her family), schizophrenia (her sister Muffet), and cancer (mother), it was all the young Mariel could do to keep her head. In a compassionate voice she reveals her painful struggle to stay sane as the youngest child in her family, and how she coped with the chaos by developing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, (OCD) about, schedule, and organization, and food. The twisted legacy of her family has never quite let go of Mariel, but now in this memoir she opens up about her claustrophobic marriage, her faltering acting career, and turning to spiritual healers and charlatans for solace. Ultimately Mariel has written a story of triumph about learning to overcome her family’s demons and developing love and deep compassion for them. At last, in OUT CAME THE SUN she can finally tell the true story of the tragedies and troubles of the Hemingway family, and she delivers a book that will stand alongside those by Mary Karr and Jeanette Walls. Mariel Hemingway is a leading actress of movies and television who made her electrifying debut in “Lipstick” and in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan.” She is an advocate for families with mental illness and speaks across the country about her experiences. The Oprah Winfrey-produced documentary “Running from Crazy” was based on her life and was just nominated for an Emmy Award. This is a brilliant inside-story celebrity project that raises awareness about individuals — and families — afflicted by mental illness, suicide, depression, shiczophrenia, alcoholism, or depression. It is also controversial as it connects directly to the rampant mental illness that underlies most of our lurid headlines. Mariel has an extensive book tour planned. And of course, the book will appeal to Hemingway fans worldwide and all reader’s of 20th century American literature for it’s frank discussion of Ernest Hemingway’s family and his legacy. Importantly, Mariel has also written a companion YA memoir ( INVISIBLE GIRL) that speaks directly to YA readers about mental illness, depression, and what it’s like growing up in a family like that. In this YA book, Mariel speaks honestly about her own experiences with depression, eating disorders, and OCD, and how she learned to overcome these issues and cope thanks to healthy living and eating. It is most often the children in these afflicted families who suffer the most; this YA book is Mariel’s effort to give them a voice, acknowledge their pain, and shine a light. Regan Arts will publish it simultaneously with OUT CAME THE SUN in April 2015.