Don't Yell at Her!: A Memoir of Psychedelics, Crossing Borders, and Finding Freedom from Love Addiction

In the depths of winter, Carmen Joy King loads her dog and all her possessions into a boxy Japanese hatchback and sets off on an improbable 4,000-kilometer solo drive to Mexico. Her destination: a remote psychedelic retreat where she hopes to find freedom from three decades of debilitating love addiction.

Traversing mountain passes and desert highways, King confronts not just the dangers of the open road but the ghosts of her past-childhood wounds, patterns of seeking validation, and a series of relationships with emotionally unavailable men. As she moves through memories of growing up in rural Alberta, her years teaching in Japan, and a hasty marriage in Brazil, King examines the origins of her self-destructive patterns with unflinching honesty and unexpected humor.

Don't Yell at Her! is a remarkable journey into the wilderness of healing, where the land's stark beauty mirrors King's own stripping away of defenses. Candid about her struggles with anxiety, body image, and self-worth, she discovers that true belonging comes not from external validation but from reconnecting with her soul.

Raw, irreverent, and ultimately hopeful, this memoir speaks to anyone who has ever longed to break free from destructive cycles and find their way home to themselves.