Thorne, Julia 1944-

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THORNE, Julia 1944-

PERSONAL: Born 1944; married John Kerry (a politician), 1970 (divorced, 1988); remarried; children: (first marriage) Vanessa, Alexandra.

ADDRESSES: Home—MT. Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperPerennial, 10 East 53rd St., 7th floor, New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

(With Larry Rothstein) You Are Not Alone: Words ofExperience and Hope for the Journey through Depression, HarperPerennial (New York, NY), 1993.

A Change of Heart: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey through Divorce, HarperPerennial (New York, NY), 1996.

SIDELIGHTS: Julia Thorne, drawing on her own personal struggles, attempts to help others in similar positions through her published works. Thorne, a Philadelphia heiress and former wife of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, suffered from such a depressed state of mind that at one time she contemplated suicide.

In You Are Not Alone: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey through Depression, Thorne describes the deep sadness she endured well before Kerry's 1982 campaign to be lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. One story relates Thorne putting her children to bed, and then sitting on the edge of her own bed while thinking about committing suicide. You Are Not Alone is written for people with similar issues and includes both her own stories as well as other first-person accounts. The book also has blank pages for the reader to record their thoughts and begin their own process of recovery. Psychologist Esther Fortess, in a review for Kliatt, wrote, "The information presents the phenomenology of depression and the process of healing, as well as resources and answers to commonly asked questions about depression. Thorne's voice is clear throughout, sending practical messages of compassion and hope."

On the heels of the success of You Are Not Alone, which debuted in the top fifteen of Publishers Weekly's best-seller list for paperbacks, Thorne's follow-up book, A Change of Heart: Words of Experience and Hope for the Journey through Divorce, specifically focuses on the problems arising from divorce. Thorne again draws upon her own experiences with Kerry, whom she married in 1970 but separated from in 1982 and divorced in 1988 after having two daughters together. Thorne later remarried and moved to Montana. Like You Are Not Alone, A Change of Heart is a self-help book designed to teach life skills.