Are you an older woman with a fabulous life story? Are you thinking of writing your memoir? Check out my FREE 60-page memoir guide, based on my experience writing and self-publishing CLEAVED – A story of loss, legs and finding family. Download my FREE guide.  

Looking for a great gift for your sister or bookish friend?

 

 

• Are you a woman who came of age in the 70s?
• Do you love memoirs about ordinary women with extraordinary lives?
• Are you looking for an inspiring page-turner?

Here’s what women like you are saying about CLEAVED:

… I can’t put it down. It’s warm, honest, brilliant. – Jan Harkin, Melbourne, Victoria

Honestly you’ve touched every emotion and feeling in my heart. – Magdalini Lazarro, Melbourne, Victoria

I can’t put into words how much I enjoyed your book! –  Sheralyn Iljcesen, , South Australia.

‘I just finished it. I’m in bits. Such a beautiful story. – Susie Penrice Tyrie, Singapore

My heart has been deeply touched by your story. –Eileen Dielesen, Perth, Western Australia

I practically inhaled your book – I found it such a fascinating story, beautifully written. – Jane Haley, Hobart, Tasmania

Shamefully, I’ve been lying around all day finishing it, cause I couldn’t put it down. – Suzanne Walshe, Maldon, Victoria

I am still ‘in the movie’ of your book in my head…It was transformative – Katherine Seppings, Harcourt, Victoria

 …an incredible story. Beautifully written, … Personally, I found it hard to put down… – Bronnie Dean, Harcourt, Victoria.

I devoured CLEAVED last Thursday night and was totally engrossed by your story. –Theresa Dickinsen , Canberra.

PURCHASE THE PRINT VERSION (HARD COPY) OF CLEAVED HERE:

https://janecafarella.com.au/product/cleaved-a-memoir-by-jane-cafarella-hardcopy/

OR

How to download:

1. Click the download button above and follow the prompts to pay.
2. Check your email (and spam) for your receipt. Click the word “download” on the receipt.
3. The PDF will appear in your “downloads” file on your computer.
4. Save it to the file of your choice – e.g. documents. If you leave it in “downloads”, when you open it again, it will regard it as another download and ask you to pay, as there is a download limit of one copy per purchase. If this happens, don’t pay again! Email me at jane.cafarella@gmail.com and I will help you.

$2 from every purchase of the print version of CLEAVED and $1 from every purchase of the e-book is donated to the leading global organisation for lymphatic research and education, the USA-based Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN) Lymphatic Education and Research Network

THE STORY

The story of two sisters who were lost and then found, CLEAVED is the page-turning, funny and tragic memoir of Australian playwright and journalist JANE CAFARELLA.

Raised under the same roof, each allied to a different parent, Jane and her older sister Julie are foot soldiers in their parents’ marital war. Jane is Mum’s. Julie is Dad’s.

The situation is normal, even if Jane’s not.  ‘Just tell them you were born that way,’ her mother says when she’s taunted at school for having one fat and one skinny leg.

There’s no name for it and no cure, so it’s ignored, subsumed by bigger family problems.

The emotional cleaving becomes physical when their parents finally separate when Jane is 17 and Julie is 18.

Six months later, an explosive discovery blows Jane and her mother away from the whole extended family forever.

CLEAVED is both a mystery and a search for truth: a story of resilience, forgiveness and compassion, told by a master storyteller.

*Jane’s ‘big leg’ as her mother called it, was later diagnosed as Milroy’s Disease, a rare form of congenital lymphoedema. In her 20s, she underwent a series of reduction operations with world-renowned micro surgeon Bernard O’Brien for whom the O’Brien Foundation in Melbourne is named. https://www.obrienfoundation.com/history/

READ AN EXCERPT HERE

HERE’S WHAT FELLOW AUTHORS ARE SAYING:

An extraordinary story, vividly told – Angela Savage

Candid and compelling – Hazel Edwards

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 250 million people worldwide live with the incurable, disfiguring, progressive, and little-known disease called lymphoedema. In Jane Cafarella’s new memoir, CLEAVED, the veil of secrecy surrounding lymphedema is stripped away as we meet a young girl in Australia living with an undiagnosed deformity. Ms. Cafarella weaves a stirring and universal coming-of-age story where the audience gets a rare glimpse of the impact of living with a disability while traversing the many roads on life’s journey.

• William Repicci, CEO of the Lymphatic Education and Research Network (USA), the leading global organisation for lymphatic research and advocacy..

Did you enjoy CLEAVED? Leave your comment here:

CLEAVED is also available from Amazon and all the usual outlets. If you purchase from there, and enjoyed CLEAVED, please leave a review.

(If you usually come to this website for free theatre monologues, this post may be a surprise. I hope you’ll consider reading my book, which is full of family drama!)