“In lesser hands, this memoir could’ve flopped, but Bishop is a seasoned award-winning newspaper reporter who reveals a fascinating segment of her life in clear, unflinching style.... [Don’t You Ever is] brave and terrific.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A powerful study in empathy.” — Charlotte Observer
“In this profound memoir, Bishop takes an open-hearted and unflinching look at a family history that is equal parts love story and requiem for a brother she barely knew. Bishop turns her formidable investigative journalism skills inward to unearth long-simmering class and culture divides in bucolic rural Virginia.” — Beth Macy, author of Truevine and Factory Man
“Bishop digs deep into her own past, exposing class structure...genteel poverty, self-loathing, and self-doubt in a deeply honest manner… This powerful tale lays bare the cancer of shame and its often devastating results.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“To the extraordinary benefit of readers, Bishop turns her prize-winning journalistic skills towards her family’s history in her first book…. Bishop’s research and clear, heartfelt writing render her story deeply personal and culturally essential.” — Booklist (starred review)
“The narrative moves fluidly… Both of the author’s key subjects come across as baffling, complicated individuals, deserving of love and respect despite their flaws, shaped by a society that viewed a mother who had a child out of wedlock as shameful. A precise and honest depiction of a family wound that has still not entirely healed.” — Kirkus Reviews
“For three decades Mary Carter Bishop has stood at the forefront of Virginia journalists, thanks to her relentlessness as a reporter and her elegance, control, and empathy as a storyteller. With Don’t You Ever, she applies these gifts to a deeply personal tale at once tragic, infuriating, and wondrous, and reveals herself to be as big-hearted in life as she is on the page. Readers who’ve missed her past work owe themselves the pleasure of meeting her now.” — Earl Swift, author of Chesapeake Requiem