Karen Louise Hill

Karen Louise Hill: I know how hard it has been for me to finish my own books. But I can't truly know how difficult it must have been for Karen to finish her novel, Cafe Babanussa, given that she was beset by periodic psychiatric breakdowns during the years she worked on it. , according to Hamilton Spectator. I imagine that writing, for Karen, must have felt like hauling a brick- It was heartbreaking to witness her anguish: pacing constantly, unable to focus her eyes or to have a conversation. But at least she was safe. Since my childhood, I had seen the illness strike people on both sides of my family, but I had never expected or imagined that bipolar disorder would capture my own sister. Karen Louise Hill, my younger sister by one year and three days, died on March 27, at the age of 56, with her rich but challenging life unfinished. She died with an essay and a novel, both exploring the mental illness with which she had lived for 30 years, still circulating in search of publishers. In periods when she reduced or entirely ceased taking her antipsychotic medications, she slipped gradually into debilitating illness. When she took her meds faithfully, she hated the results: they numbed her mind, hampered her creativity and made her gain weight. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.