Dancing on Broken Glass by Ka Hancock

I think I found this book on a sale table at Barnes.  It has been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while.  I knew it was a deep subject.  I needed to be in the right place to read it. 
This is the first book of fiction for Ka Hancock.  She has two nursing degrees and has specialized in working with psychiatric and substance abuse patients.  This book reads like a true story.  Ka's insight into mental illness is gut wrenching.  I do not think I have ever read a story about mental illness that described the agony of the person that has the illness and the family that lives with it. 
This story is a portrait of a marriage that is both ordinary and extraordinary.  It is the journey of the ups and downs of living with mental illness. 
Lucy and Mickey should not have fallen in love.  Their love should not have led them to marriage.  They both have bad genes.  Mickey is bipolar and Lucy has a family history ravaged by breast cancer.  When they meet there is immediate chemistry. 
This story is filled with the tragedy of illness at the same time the up lifting love that Lucy and Mickey share.  The story feels so real.  There were times I had goosebumps from the love the characters have for each other. 
Lucy has two sisters and a brother-in-law that round out this family.  The girls lost their parents at young ages.  Their relationships add so much to the story.
So many subjects brought up in this book.  Mental illness and the struggle people endure to live with it. Breast cancer and the way it can attack generations of women.  There is even a great section about abortion.  Mother's life versus the babie's life. 
The end of the book was heart wrenching.  It felt so real I had to hold in a sob.  That is a great book.  I have not said this in a long time, I give this book a 5. 
Millhouse there is not a chance that you have time to read this book right now.  It is long.  The subject is heart breaking.  Between your toddler, nesting, and baby on board this is not the right time for you to read this story.  I know you would love it.  I think it would make you sad too. 
Tru Stories I wish you would find the time for this book.
For the rest of you readers out there, this one is worth the time.  If you have read it or do read it, let me know what you think!