'A fascinating and moving account'
The London Magazine

“Written in a chatty style typical of any 15 year old, this memoir entertains and horrifies at the same time. A fascinating and moving account of what it feels like for ordinary daily existence to become a struggle. I’d recommend A Girl Behind Dark Glasses to anyone interested in medical memoirs and particularly for a YA audience.”
The London Magazine

“A Girl Behind Dark Glasses isn’t an easy read. But it is a lesson to us all—cherish what you have in life and don’t take your health for granted. This is a story of strength and resilience amid all of the despair—and ultimately, a story of love, survival and passion for life. Jessica’s experiences made me angry and made me weep but, above all, made me hope that one day doctors will find a cure for this devastating, cruel disease.”
LoveReading

“Jessica is an extremely talented storyteller and every word was a pleasure to read. But don’t get me wrong, the ordeals she has experienced and documented don’t make for an easy read, and her words often brought me to tears because I could feel her pain like it was my own. Like many great writers Jessica draws you in with her imaginative narrative and keeps you engaged with every page. I found myself lost in her world. I am amazed by her strength; Jessica never gave up fighting, she never gave up hope and she never lost herself or her sense of humour.”
The Mighty

“The book is upsetting, but Jessica has a great writing style and injects humour in all the right places. It’s a must-read by sufferers, non-sufferers and medics alike.”
Goodreads review

“A harrowing story of a young girl’s struggle with severe M.E. Not only is she battling a serious illness but she is battling to be taken seriously as well. No one should have to go through what she went through. As a teenager she was forced to grow up too quickly. I highly recommend this book which is impossible to put down.”
Goodreads review

“How can anyone even think about writing a book when they are so sick that they can’t even speak or move? The fact that Jessica has written this book at all tells us that she is an incredible young lady. On top of this, she has the misfortune to suffer from M.E., which many doctors still think isn’t a real, physical disease. Despite all the reasons why writing a book would be too hard, Jessica has done it. On top of that, it is very well written. It describes Jessica’s experiences, many of which are painful even to imagine, let alone go through. I found the book inspiring and could not put it down.”
Amazon review

★A Girl Behind Dark Glasses once was the Number 1 bestseller Amazon & Waterstones!
★A Girl Behind Dark Glasses was the Winner for The People's Book Prize 2019 for 'Best Non-Fiction'!
★In a funny, almost humorous account of her life story of battling a long-term chronic disease, Myalgic encephalomyelitis, from the age of 15, Jessica shares her innermost thoughts and real-time emotions. The ups and downs of her illness and hospitalization.
★Jessica's thoughts and emotions are recorded through her voice-activated technology diary "Bug" and are now recreated in real time in text, truly revealing many unique moods that cannot be captured afterwards.
★Every day of her life is a heroic battle, a story of strength and resilience in the face of despair, a story of love, survival and zest for life. Her amazing personality and perseverance and adaptability shine through, but also converge into a babbling stream of hope in the desperate situation.
★Jessica created a blog called "The World of One Room" and posted a video of the same name on YouTube about her suffering from severe M.E. and then she had to live in a single room most of the time, which has attracted audiences from multiple countries.
★These stories are also a window into a life many of us don't even realize we have, and reveal the small, touching, inspiring and enlightening aspects of many of the everyday problems most of us face.

The series includes 3 titles:
A Girl Behind Dark Glasses
A Girl In One Room
A Girl Beyond Closed Doors

From a darkened world, bound by four walls, a young woman called Jessica tells the tale of her battle against the M.E Monster. The severest form of a neuro immune disease called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis went to war with her at just 15 years old. From beneath her dark glasses, Jessica glimpses a world far different from the one she remembers as a teenage school girl. This true story follows her path as she ends up living in hospital for years with tubes keeping her alive. This harrowing story follows the highs and lows of the disease and being hospitalised, captured through her voice activated technology diary called ‘Bug’ that enables her to fulfil her dream of one day becoming an author. It provides a raw, real-time honesty to the story that would be impossible to capture in hindsight.

Jessica Taylor-Bearman
Jessica shares her inner-most thoughts and real-time emotions – adapted from her diary growing up as a teenager in South-East England – as she experiences the terrifying discovery that, aged 15, instead of partying, studying and socialising, she would rapidly become bed-ridden, ultimately unable to move, speak, eat…Despite the odds, Jessica never gave up. Her dream was to become an author, to be able to marry, leave the hospital, enjoy life. In July 2018, her first book, A Girl Behind Dark Glasses, will be published by Hashtag Press. Supported by a hugely successful crowdfunding project, Jessica’s story will be unveiled at an ideal time – Jessica features in a film called Unrest by Jennifer Brea, a journalist and filmmaker from New York, which aims to raise awareness about severe Myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E). After winning a prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the now Oscar-nominated film is now on general release in the UK, coinciding with a review of the controversial National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines into the diagnosis and management of the illness.