The story begins as the author takes her young daughters on a day trip with a difference - to the mental hospital where she spent the most unhappy years of her life. The girls have no idea that their mother has a diagnosis of schizophrenia but now she has written a book about her experiences and she needs to tell them about it before anybody else does. This memoir is the sequel to 'Surviving Schizophrenia' and describes what happened in the life of the author after that first book was published. It is a gripping read, told with subtlety and the light touch of humour that characterised 'Surviving'. There is an additional section at the end of the memoir which reads as a recovery manual, offering insights and advice in the hope that others may benefit from the writer's personal experience of building a new and better life after the wreckage of a total emotional breakdown. Surfacing will be read and enjoyed by anyone who enjoys a well told and uplifting story, but could prove invaluable to those who have suffered emotional distress of any kind.