Mirrors Strike Back: A Memoir

Winner of the IPPY Award for Best Non-Fiction Series of 2023

"Some people float-like the velvety filter of an Olan Mills photo-effortless, easy, gentle, delicate. I grind with the graininess of an old-timey Western photo-harsh, serious, rough, and troubled. I think I know why..."

After reuniting with her four-year-old self on the train tracks of her childhood, Rebekah remembers: something happened. Her sordid past nudges her until she dives headfirst into an uninvited flashback, which gives them all permission to surface.

Unveiling one memory with her therapist, Joel, he introduces her to a unique superpower. Rebekah pilots a series of trust-falls with said superpower while navigating cycles of abuse and indefatigable trauma. From a gaslighting fiancé to the bewildering cults she engages with on her travels, every person and each cycle are echoes of Rebekah's inner turmoil.

While traversing a whirlwind of experiences, Rebekah can't help but wonder: is she running away from or toward something? Will she ever learn to embrace the dark in order to see the light?

Undeniably raw and fiercely authentic, Mirrors Strike Back is an unpredictable journey through a maze of funhouse mirrors where Mallory repeatedly collides with reflections of her own soul via undeserved betrayal, cultish encounters, racy exchanges, a spectral twist of fate, loss, romantic love, familial love, and finally: unexpected self-love from a spirited heart gifted with superhuman strength.