Beauty in Disrepair

Norma and Celia Forte's mother was a beautiful woman with stunning blue eyes, intellectual curiosity, and artistic talents, but she was broken, often bruised, and sometimes a monster. She wore many faces. In Beauty in Disrepair, authors and sisters Norma and Celia Forte narrate their memories of a tumultuous childhood, offering perspectives on living with a parent suffering with Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.



Through a collection of vignettes and poetry, this memoir provides a visceral account of the residual effects of being raised primarily by a parent who was undiagnosed until their adulthood. The Forte sisters tell how working through these memories was a painful, but ultimately rewarding journey. The process of healing is life long, and they are finally making peace with their lost childhood as adult survivors.



Beauty in Disrepair reflects on the girls' childhood as survivors of direct abuse and the residual effects of DID as their mother battled at least twenty-two alter identities. Norma and Celia openly share their story to offer peace to others facing the same experiences and provide a hopeful future for those who have yet to find the beauty they seek, that is in disrepair.