Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: A Memoir of Learning to Believe You’re Gonna Be Okay

Have you ever waited for a book to be published for so long that you just want the whole experience to last a little bit longer? That is the case with Will the Circle Be Unbroken by Sean Dietrich. As one of his number one fans for years I have longed for this memoir to be published and finally --here it is. A real copy of it in my hands. I waited to start it because I wanted to read it in one sitting and today was that day. What a glorious day it was!<br /><br />Meet Sean Dietrich. AKA Sean of the South. Author, musician and all around great guy. Seriously. I knew from reading his blog and daily posts for years that his entire story had not been shared with us yet and true to form the words he penned in Will the Circle Be Unbroken are words that will stick with me for a long time. Sean reveals in his memoir many more details of his life than I had read before and this book made me laugh, cry, get angry and sentimental with every page turn. As a master story teller I believe the story of Sean's life is the best story he has told. <br /><br />Brutally honest and revealing Sean chronicles more than just the tragic suicide of his father in the pages and leaves the reader with such a sense of being a part of his life that I felt like family. A family that hugs necks, that shares tomato sandwiches with Duke's Mayonnaise and that loves all things bloodhound. This is a family that I can belong to and one that supports one another. <br /><br />Sean's story is a story of struggles and triumphs, disappointments and hardships that give way to success and fulfillment. The book is filled with quotable quotes and life lessons all wrapped up in glorious words. To say that reading this book was a joy is an understatement. I truly felt inspired and motivated as I read the encouraging story of Sean's life. Perhaps the best part of this story is seeing the transformation of a man who doubted his worth as a man to become an encourager in his very own right. With the support of a loving wife, Jamie, Sean has bridged the gap to become the voice of the overlooked. Giving others a voice and sharing their stories with others is such a gift that he is giving our world in a time when good stories really do need to be shared. Ignoring the advice of an executive at a large newspaper in Georgia Sean continued to write about the good things in life, the ordinary things turned extraordinary, the simple things. I, for one, am very grateful that he chose to ignore that woman's advice. The world is a better place because of Sean Dietrich. Keep on writing, Sean of the South. Your audience awaits.

You guys. I listen to A LOT of audiobooks. Most of them I listen to at 1.25 speed to keep things moving along, you know? But you couldn't pay me to speed through anything written and narrated by Sean of the South/ Sean Dietrich. His voice and pace are perfect and NOT to be messed with. ⁠<br />⁠<br />I adore this memoir. Parts of it make me laugh out loud so hard, and other parts scrape sobs from the bottom of my gut, which I valiantly restrain while wiping down the kitchen counters after dinner so as not to scare my family. ⁠<br />⁠<br />If you enjoy memoirs, please read (or preferably listen to) this. If you enjoy novels, please listen to this because Sean excels at storytelling so much. And also don't miss his novel, Stars of Alabama.

This is southern storytelling at its finest. Sad, beautiful, funny, true.

This book will make you cry, laugh, be sad, become encouraged, get angry, and feel at home with the little boy who withstood a great tragedy with great courage. Sean may have been a seventh grade dropout, but his ability to take you into his journey is just amazing. It seemed as if every page offered a different emotion. I found humor with the Baptist church fried chicken, anger at his father's abuse, and fear for the trauma Sean suffered that led to his fear and nightmares. There is hope from the message of the blind man, and encouragement with his mother's determination to do whatever it would take to raise her two children. If you love a great book that is totally open, honest, and an overall message that everything's gonna be okay, you have a winner here. This one will truly make you think and then you will realize that yes, life can be difficult, but everything will be okay.

A superbly written memoir, something like Lake Wobegon with a southern warmth. Very well done.

I haven’t the foggiest idea what persuaded me to pick up a memoir of some white southern dude I’ve never heard of, but damn if I’m not glad I did. I don’t give that fifth star out often, but this is easily one of my favorite memoirs I’ve ever read, and it’s every bit deserving. Half way through listening to the audiobook (which I highly recommend listening to, despite the next half of my sentence), I found myself ordering a hard copy of this book because there were so many quotes, jokes and thoughts I wanted to be able to go back over again, and some things are just different in print. And, even if I never reread this book (which I undoubtedly will), this thing just deserves a spot on my bookshelf. It also made me stop in my tracks and listen to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on repeat. This thing just fed my soul- there’s no other way of putting it.

Simply loved this book. Because, as Dolly Parton once shared in Steel Magnolias, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”<br /><br />When grief and hardness cross your path early in life – time doesn’t heal all wounds. When you’re young, time only serves to make those wounds sharper. The title of this book could not be more poignant, because for a long time, just as the song goes – the best you can do is simply ‘try to hold up and be brave’ as Sean shares in reflecting the deep loss of a parent.<br /><br />Eventually – you don’t hold up so well anymore, and you end up getting in your own way. But if you’re lucky – you find a book like this one that helps you “remember parts of your life that you had forgotten.”<br /><br />The memories that imprinted when your heart wasn’t looking.<br /><br />There are so many striking and heartfelt passages in this book – but one that has lingered with me each morning is, “Something hard within me began to thaw.”<br /><br />My own mother passed away suddenly in a ‘one-in-a-million’ workplace accident when I was 7 years old, and I’ve spent a good deal of my life in late mourning. I spent many wretched days in swampy southeast Texas wondering how on earth my life had gone sideways so early. And promptly moved away as fast as I could.<br /><br />Sean’s stories – and this book in particular, reminded me that hope and laughter is always waiting for you on the shoreline. These rich, heartfelt stories gently eased me back home.<br /><br />Trust me – pick up 2 copies, because this is one book you will definitely want to share with a beloved family member or friend!

<blockquote> <i>In my family, there was no real difference between fried chicken and religion. Whenever my mother passed through the fellowship hall doors, it was with a fried offering of chicken. Families brought their best fare to the house of the Lord, usually in the form of casseroles. Others brought Jell-O molds, or worse, tomato aspic—a gelatinous tomato dish spread onto a cracker. I’d rather lick a mule between the ears than eat tomato aspic.<br /><br />My mother, however, always brought fried chicken. Dishes were laid upon the Blessed Altar of Folding Card Tables and blessed by the high priest.<br /><br />Amen. Hallelujah. Let’s eat.</i> </blockquote><br /><br /><br />I’ve got no additional pitch besides the words of Sean of the South himself!! Come for the heart, the poignancy, the gut-wrenching tension of loving Southern people and being so deeply hurt by them, the endless fight of wanting to leave the past behind you but knowing the past lives within us. Stay for the audiobook version READ BY SEAN!!!! with his drawl so thick you can use it to pave county roads. <br /><br /><b>52 BookClub #28: a book includes a funeral</b><br /><br /><br /><i> <blockquote>My childhood was not a pretty one, but I believe ugly childhoods make pretty people. I have gone through moments when I doubted the things I thought I knew. I’ve experienced tragedy like anyone else. I’ve lost people, I’ve buried good dogs, I’ve been uncertain where I belong, I’ve been a Kansan, and I’ve been a Southerner. I’ve been a loser and man who feels like he won life’s lottery. But no matter where life takes me, I will always be a rural child and a survivor of suicide.<br /><br />I am like anyone else who gathers in a fellowship hall. I’ve endured sadness, horror, grief, anxiety, and football teams who just can’t seem to win a national championship. I’ve lived through dark decades when the sun wouldn’t show itself. But when I walk into any fellowship hall in the USA on a Wednesday night, bad things go away. You can always visit a fellowship hall to see and feel the same things.<br /><br />You close your eyes and see the image of your mother holding a covered dish. You feel the memory of your father, the most confusing man you ever knew, who ruined your life but also made your life what it is. A tapestry of things both reprehensible and exquisite. A man who once sat beside you with a necktie flung over his shoulder. Who loved you.<br /><br />You wonder how this beautiful person had the audacity to leave all this behind.<br /><br />And you are forever haunted by fellowship halls, even when you aren’t in them. You dream of them. You can’t wait to revisit them. They are your proof. Evidence that life is not against you. A reminder that eventually, no matter what it seems like, the tables will be set up, folding chairs will be unfolded, tablecloths will be unfurled, casseroles will arrive by the thousands. You will eat the food of your people. The homemade biscuits, the tea with too much sugar, and the fried chicken. And it will hit you all at once. No matter how bad it looks, that blind man was telling the truth.<br /><br />Everything will be alright.</blockquote> </i>

Will the Circle Be Unbroken was my last read of the year. I picked it up because I have been following him on Instagram. I will start by saying that I am a Midwesterner and not a Southerner and this author is known as "Sean of the South." Even though I am not a Southerner, I enjoyed his memoir from beginning to end. Sean tells things like they are and is down to earth. I really like that about him. Parts of his story left me wanting to cry and others made me chuckle--sometimes all within the same chapter. <br /><br />If you like a good memoir, I encourage you to give Will the Circle Be Unbroken? a try. I like the writing style. I liked that I felt inspired in several ways through Sean's story.<br /><br />I purchased my copy of this book from Amazon.

The timing of this book is providential. It's the kind of need that so many people need right now. The reminder that loss is hurtful and confusing and a very long journey, but that we can and do come out the other side when we do the work. <br />Personally, Dietrich's story resonates for personal reasons. Suicide has touched my life and I've seen those even closer to it than I struggle through the healing. But I've had to heal too, and I've had to heal around and despite their struggles. <br />This book is an inspiration and a reminder that there is still good in the world even when it doesn't feel like it sometimes.