Jen Murphy Parker with Irena Smith

Jen Murphy Parker joins us with her memoir of medical motherhood, marriage under strain, and the hard-won joy that still finds its way in. Jen Murphy Parker joins us with her clear-eyed memoir of medical motherhood, marriage under strain, and the hard-won joy that still finds its way in. About the Book For readers of Joan Didion and Emily Rapp Black, Fault Line Boy follows one mother through the whiplash of raising a child with severe epilepsy. How do you stay upright in a world that won’t stop shaking? When her youngest son, Lew, begins experiencing relentless seizures, the life Jen Murphy Parker thought she knew—and the ordinary chaos of raising four children—disappears overnight. What follows is a crash course in pediatric neurology: ambulance rides, ICU nights, medication trials, and the slow, brutal math of risk. Yet as Jen learns to live alongside uncertainty, she also finds a quiet thread of resilience: moments of joy, wonder, and happiness. With lyrical precision and levity, Parker captures the story of endurance and recalibration, of marriage and motherhood under pressure, and of the strange intimacy that grows inside long-term caregiving. For parents, caregivers, and readers of narrative nonfiction, Fault Line Boy is an unflinching, luminous memoir about loving a child with rare pediatric epilepsy—and learning how to keep choosing a life, even when nothing feels steady. ACCESSIBILITY: We never want cost to be a barrier to admission for our community. Please email events [at] keplers [dot] org if you would like to attend this event but cannot afford a ticket. To request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for this event, please email events [at] keplers [dot] org at least one week prior to the event. REFUNDS: We are able to offer refunds up to 7 days before the event. We want Kepler’s to be a welcoming and comfortable space for everyone. If you are feeling unwell, especially with respiratory symptoms, please stay home. Thank you for helping us create a safe and considerate environment for our community.