Jo Ellen Capps-Layne Wins Pacific Book Review Notable Book Gold Seal for True-to-Life Fictionalization of Mental Health Patients Mistreated by State Institutions

Before she became an author, Jo Ellen Capps-Layne had spent over 30 years in the field of mental health as a social worker. And just like many social workers, she has seen the ugly side of life often experienced by those who suffer from mental health disabilities.

This also includes the corruption, manipulation, and exploitation of these victims with disability. In fact, the number of things she has experienced is so numerous that she didn’t think she could be able to write them all down (on top of protecting the identity of the abuse victims).

It is for that reason that she decided to blend many of these stories together in a fictionalized account titled “Laughter at Dawn.” It follows the story of Abigail “Abby” Thornton, who suffers from a condition that many state-run institutions fail to diagnose and provide proper treatment for.

Since then, reviews have come in with much praise for the book’s vivid, brutal retelling that ultimately does justice to sharing the untold story of these victims. “Laughter at Dawn” has even earned a Gold Book Seal from the Pacific Book Review, stating the book “… covers deep and difficult subjects like abuse, neglect, mental illness, and trauma, with a clear, honest voice. The story is fascinating by its fast pacing, and the text is full of vivid descriptions and powerful emotions. Even though some scenes are dark and emotionally heavy, the powerful narrative will, however, keep readers turning the pages, in the hope that the protagonist soon finds lasting peace.”

As more readers find her book, Capps-Layne hopes that they will pass on the important lessons of compassion, awareness, and the need to speak up for the voiceless in society. Because from what she has seen, such things are rarer than most people find comforting.

“Laughter at Dawn” is available at ReadersMagnet Bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Jo Ellen Capps-Layne can be reached out to via her website at https://www.joellencappslayne.com/.

Author: Jo Ellen Capps-Layne
Published date: August 07, 2024
Publisher: ReadersMagnet, LLC
Genre: General Fiction

Author Bio
Jo Ellen Capps Layne was born in Lynchburg, VA, and graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She has two adult children and one granddaughter. She continues to reside in Lynchburg, VA with her husband. Jo Ellen is the author of the novel “Laughter at Dawn” as well as a short story, Seasons, and the article American Family. She based this novel on her thirty-seven years of experience in the mental health field as a social worker, and she has drawn on her knowledge of psychological disorders as a basis for her creative works. Her short story, Seasons, about a long-distance relationship, placed in an international literary competition in 1988. She also published American Family in Woman’s World about her personal experience of placing her mother in a nursing home.

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