COMING SPRING 2025

In this compelling tale of redemption, Shavaun Scott, a psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience, recounts a harrowing journey that begins with the revenge suicide of her husband. The narrative then flashes back to traverse a life filled with unique challenges, profound losses, and hard-earned lessons.

The owl, Scott's symbolic night bird, serves as both a harbinger of death and a bearer of wisdom, reflecting the deep emotional and spiritual journey woven through this powerful memoir.

Nightbird, written by Shavaun Scott, begins with a haunting moment where the man she has loved leaves her with a devastating goodbye, casting blame at her feet. The book unravels a raw, honest memoir of loss, insight, and recovery.

Scott takes us back through a turbulent life shaped by deep-rooted superstition, fundamentalist religion, and crushing grief. Themes of mental illness and intimate partner abuse are explored with unflinching honesty. Scott sheds light on poorly understood topics, such as the aggressive nature of a subtype of suicide associated with domestic violence.

Ultimately, Scott escapes her family's painful legacy and emerges to rebuild herself as she dedicates her career to helping others move past trauma. Nightbird isn't just about survival—it's a testament to the strength of the human spirit to rise and transform.

"Nightbird is a heartrending story that will pull you in from the first sentence to the last. There is no holding back in Scott’s narrative and no mincing of words. Whether you are someone who has gone through personal strife or cares for someone who has, this is a must-read, first for the person needing validation and for the other hoping for understanding. Nightbird provides both."

Aria Ligi

Author, Blood, Bone, and Stone

"Shavaun Scott’s powerful memoir, Nightbird, will have you turning pages in the middle of the night to stay immersed in her fascinating and disturbing story. Born into a hardscrabble life, into a world where girls marry at 16, Shavaun presents herself as the descendant of generations of female suffering.

But there’s another Shavaun, dreamy and intelligent, who subconsciously plans herself an escape route. We meet both Shavauns, a trapped young woman who ultimately makes a disastrous second marriage after her early first marriage, and the seasoned professional therapist who can analyze her patterns and behavior with great insight and precision.

Meeting the young Shavaun gives the memoir a startling authenticity not usually found in books by psychotherapists. However, the professional voice and context give us the tools to understand the story and our own stories.

I recommend Nightbird. You won’t soon forget it."

Laurel Brett

Author, The Schrödinger Girl

"In her memoir Nightbird, Shavaun Scott describes in gripping detail the traumas that she confronted as a child and young adult, including the revenge suicide of her second husband. Relentlessly hopeful, Scott redirected her faith in prayer, which she had been taught as a child, to faith in psychotherapy. She learned that choice was not to be feared but embraced and harnessed. In this way, Scott was able to free herself from the traumas of her past. This is a hopeful, optimistic story about not letting your past define your future."

Anne Abel

Author, Mattie, Milo, and Me: A Memoir

"Shavaun Scott has written a no-nonsense account of the journey to—and from—life inside a damaging relationship. Scott shows us the kind of childhood influences that build characteristics leading a person, perhaps especially a female-bodied person, to get into relationships with abusive partners. Honest and without sentimentality, Scott shows us that these characteristics are both strengths and challenges. She rejects victimhood, then and now, as she reclaims, step by step, an empowered life of her own choosing."

Mary Mandeville

Author, What Lasts, A Narrative Reliquary

"Scott comes from a low-income family with Southern roots marked by superstition, religious zealotry, and mental illness. In Nightbird, she vividly portrays the struggles of damaged people coping with limited resources while reflecting on her own blind spots, failed coping attempts, and early poor relationship choices. Despite these obstacles, Scott was driven to escape the legacy of her family history. Through education and determination, she broke free from an oppressive past to become an independent woman grounded in reality. Through difficult and complex themes, Nightbird is ultimately a story about hope, transformation, and thriving despite adverse circumstances—a tale of survival and hard-won wisdom."

William Calloway

Writer