How to Remodel a Life by Hope Andersen is an unforgettable memoir that takes you on a journey of healing and hope. A lot of self-help books are well-meaning and offer good advice, but this book rings true because it is true. Hope Andersen is courageous enough to lay her life and soul bare to show you what it's like to live and struggle with a dual diagnosis: alcoholism and bipolar disorder. She freed herself from substance abuse and was diagnosed with bipolar when she was in her forties. As she describes her roller-coaster experiences, you wonder how she survived at all. But it was the event of her husband's illness that was the catalyst for a dramatic change in an upward direction.

Hope Andersen lays out in raw honesty the pivotal experiences in her life--from abusive relationships to drugs to careless sex--all symptoms of a wounded woman's cry for help; and she does it in the clever framework of remodeling a home. If you've ever remodeled a home or watched one in progress, you'll get the analogy. By telling her story in honest detail, the author helps others in a similar situation to recognize how all of the factors play together to make the perfect storm ripe for self-destruction. It looks as though Andersen's life will end in despair, but her husband's illness is the key that unlocks the door to redemption and peace--something she thought she'd never have again. How to Remodel a Life by Hope Andersen is the story you need to brighten your day and bring faith to a dark situation.

How to Remodel a Life: A Guide to Living Well with Alcoholism and Bipolar Disorder by Hope Andersen is a powerful nonfiction book that captures the lessons the author has learned on her journey to self-transformation. The book is written for readers who struggle with addiction and other challenging issues in their life. It is written by someone whose husband battled and survived a near-fatal liver cancer to become a CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) and Wellness Coach. Hope only knew at forty that she had bipolar disorder, a mental illness she’d lived with since childhood. It has been at the center of some of the challenges she’s had to face, including alcoholism, pills, thoughts of suicide, and sexual promiscuity. In this book, she shares her journey on how she remodeled her life.

Hope Andersen shares her story with unusual honesty and clarity and the reader begins to see the wisdom in her process of personal transformation and the hope it communicates. It is bold. It is engaging, exploring, and identifies a clear path to inner peace and serenity. I particularly enjoyed the courage she demonstrates in understanding the pain in her soul and how she faces it. The shifts to what matters are also captured brilliantly. How to Remodel a Life: A Guide to Living Well with Alcoholism and Bipolar Disorder is a book that resonates not only with people with mental disorders, but any reader who wants to live a quality and meaningful life. This book shows that it is possible to be better, to become someone we want to be.