The Room to Be Brave

About the Book

What if healing meant walking back into the rooms you've spent your whole life trying to escape?

In The Room to Be Brave, April Day Garcia invites readers into the invisible house we all carry. The one built from memories that shaped us, moments that broke us, and rooms we've kept locked for far too long.

Every memory lives in a room. The apartment where Child Protective Services came. The stranger's couch where she woke up ashamed. The living room where she decided to leave California for good. Some rooms hold laughter and light. Others hold shame, grief, and fears she thought she'd buried for good.

April used to think healing meant closing doors. Now she knows it means opening them and walking through slowly, honestly, letting in the light. Through surviving a brush with death, recovering in a body she didn't recognize, battling chronic illness, divorce, addiction, and her mother, she's learned that bravery isn't about feeling brave. It's about showing up for yourself over and over, even when you're exhausted.

This memoir isn't about perfection or completion. It's about the messy work of piecing yourself back together. Room by room. Breath by breath. Finding your source of strength and using it to step into the rooms you thought would break you forever.

What's Inside

Part One: Childhood
The rooms where it all began. Growing up in California, a little girl learned which doors to lock and which memories to keep hidden.

Part Two: Iowa
I thought leaving would save me. I thought new walls meant a fresh start. But we take our rooms with us, wherever we go.

Part Three: Rick & New York
Finding love. Building a family. Creating a life while still carrying all those unopened doors.

Part Four: The Breaking
When depression flooded in. When my mind and heart shattered. The journal that held my pieces. The meditation that taught me to breathe. The therapy that showed me the way.

Part Five: Recovery
The truth about alcoholism. The harder truth about getting sober. Learning that healing doesn't mean forgetting. It means finally being brave enough to remember.

This Book Is For You If...

• You've ever felt broken, stuck, or afraid to look back

• You're carrying rooms you're afraid to enter

• You're on your own healing journey from trauma or addiction

• You're trying to break cycles you inherited

• You believe in the power of choosing joy, even when it's hard