Bibliotherapy: The Power of Story

Bibliotherapy for our Butterfly-in-Chief: cover for A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain.

The past couple of weeks have been challenging. Not because work has been particularly hard or because anything bad has happened. Just because I sank into a bit of depression. I’ve been coping with high functioning depression my entire life, so this isn’t a new thing. It is always hard when it happens and, typically, I push through. Usually focusing on work helps (I am a workaholic, but that is a separate issue) and I don’t spiral too low. This time even work was hard.

I blame it on the pandemic, and the lack of in-person social interaction taking its toll on this introvert. When introverts start to crave socializing, things are bad. I haven’t been completely isolated as I don’t live alone and I do get out to work at a bookstore, but I am feeling the lack of socializing with friends in person. And, for me, it’s all compounded by video conferencing being a physical health challenge. Socializing via video isn’t a solution since it gives me dreadful headaches — the worst lingering side effect of my stroke four years ago. As a result, I have been very isolated this past year.

So, what helped me recently was completely escaping reality with a book series. My friend Tara highly recommended A Murder in Time by Julie McElwain to me and loaned me her paperback, so I dove in. In it, FBI agent Kendra Donovan accidentally travels back in time and finds herself in nineteenth century England in Aldrich Castle, where she befriends the Duke and solves a serial killer case. I was sucked in. I ended up binging the rest of the five-book series in audiobook format in under ten days. It negatively impacted my productivity work-wise (although I still got most work done!) but the binge positively impacted my funk and reinvigorated me.

This is the power of story.

Audiobook covers for A Twist in Time, Caught in Time, Betrayal in Time, and Shadows in Time by Julie McElwain and read by Lucy Raynor.

Becoming completely immersed in the life of Kendra Donovan, her time travel predicament, the interesting mysteries, her exasperation at being dependent on the Duke, and the slow simmering romance with Alec, the Duke’s nephew, removed me from the present and gave me the complete escape, and even the social interaction, I so desperately needed. I socialized vicariously through Kendra and enjoyed her friendship with Lady Rebecca and her maid, Molly, very much. It was therapeutic and much needed.

Feeling better, I’m back on my game work-wise and feeling less lonely, thanks to some imaginary characters invented by a writer. I am looking forward to socializing with my bookish friends in person again one day soon. But until then, I won’t hesitate to lean on my imaginary friends and the power of story.

And, for the record, bibliotherapy is actually a thing. If you’d like to learn more, check out this article.

Happy Reading!

– Stacey

Find a copy of A Murder in Time at your local Canadian indie bookseller!