Behind The Mirror: A Novel

"Budd's unflinching honesty about love, loss, and self-discovery makes this novel both heartbreaking and healing. Raw, real, and ultimately redemptive." — Kerk Murray, bestselling author of Since the Day We Danced"Bridget Budd deftly weaves together a relatable story, layered with humor, humility, and in the end, a soulful surrender to self-love. A beautiful tale that will empower any woman on their journey within!" — Dr. Katherine T. Kelly, Licensed Clinical PsychologistShe grew up learning that people leave. So she spent her whole life trying to be good enough, helpful enough, easy enough to keep.Three marriages, always out the door before they could fall apart. Then came the fourth. The one she also wanted to leave. The one she stayed in anyway.When a journalist arrives to document her success — the thriving nonprofit, the glowing reputation, the whole redemption arc — Julie Sloan decides to tell the real story. Not the polished version. The one that started long before the success.Told over two days on Whidbey Island, Behind the Mirror moves backward through a chaotic childhood and the slow, quiet reckoning of a woman who learned early that love had to be earned. Not perfect. Just endlessly, exhaustingly useful. Until she wasn't.For anyone who has ever made themselves smaller, easier, and endlessly accommodating — and called it love.Behind the Mirror — the story underneath the story. Read more