Jenn, fifty-something and empty-nesting, feels like a donut: whole on the outside but missing the middle. The deafening sound of silence in the picture-perfect, oversized home she shares with a husband who does not see her makes the voices arguing in her head hard to ignore. One voice tells her to stay because safe and simple is good; another says leave so you can be the version of yourself not defined by others. The thought of ever after without happily feels like purgatory. The chance discovery of her long-forgotten diaries unearths memories of a first love long buried, reminders that the most beautiful love is sometimes wasted on the young. Her words become a very real reminder of everything first love had been when she reconnects with Tripp in unexpected ways. Long Enough to Love You by Kirsten Pursell follows Jenn – a courageous yet vulnerable protagonist – as she dissects and unpacks her marriage in an emotional journey to stay true to herself despite societal norms and middle-age stereotypes that would suggest otherwise.

This is the story of a confident young girl who became a lost teenager, wanted to disappear, started to find herself, discovered love, was wild, reckless, and confused, but ultimately found a way to be okay. Told in her words as she lived them through her diaries, journals, poetry, and letters. Praise for On Becoming Me: Memoir of an 80's Teenager: D.Donovan, Sr. Reviewer,Midwest Book Review says: "...a unique look back whose approach and format is a true gift to time-travel." "...consider(s) many questions about everything from relationships to moral development and social evolution." "...rare chronicles of experience that don't come from the revised wisdom of hindsight." "One reason this is so powerful is the gift of consistency...this provides a uniformity of evolutionary growth as it depicts a timeline of change." Bookreview.com writes: "With unabashed honesty and tenderness, she portrays the intricacies of being a teenager, delving into her adolescent fears, uncertainties, self-doubts, hopes, and desires...the diary format gives her story an arresting intimacy and immediacy...candid and engrossing, this book makes for a nostalgic read." Quill says: Author Kirsten Pursell opens up her "memory vault" in a raw, honest, coming-of-age memoir set against the backdrop of the 80s, that is relevant for all generations. Online Book Club: "...Telling her story through journal/diary entries was fresh, unique, original, and rare...sincere and authentic...delves into crucial and sensitive topics peculiar to teens and seemingly incomprehensible to other ages...impeccable editing of this work."