Behind The Mirror
Raw. Real. A little messy. And totally human.
Behind the Mirror isn’t just a novel—it’s a mirror held up to the patterns we inherit, the roles we perform, and the quiet truths we bury.
Through Julie Sloan’s journey, the story explores what it really means to unravel the conditioning that tells us who we should be, and to discover what happens when we finally stop performing for love and start living from truth.
This is a novel for deep feelers, overachievers, and anyone who’s ever looked polished on the outside while falling apart on the inside. With raw honesty and flashes of humor, it asks: What happens when the story you’ve told yourself no longer fits—and you choose to write a new one?
Behind the Mirror blends fiction with therapeutic insight, offering not just a story to follow, but a chance to reflect, to connect, and to remember that healing is possible.
Brace yourself. It’s like therapy—with more plot twists.
A Note from the Author
I didn’t set out to write a perfect heroine. I set out to write someone who felt human.
From the beginning, I knew I wanted to tell a story that explored the quiet ache so many of us carry—the belief that we have to be more, do more, prove more to be worthy of love. Julie’s story is fictional, but the emotions behind it are not. They’re stitched together from real conversations, shared truths, and threads of my own history I once tried to outrun.
Some of Julie’s experiences were shaped by people I’ve known. Others unfolded as I imagined what it might look like to live with a wound that never fully scabbed over. In writing about her, I realized how much of my own emotional DNA was intertwined with hers.
This isn’t a story about happily-ever-after. It’s about unlearning. About seeing the ways we’ve been shaped by childhood, by loss, by narratives that were never ours to carry—and daring to believe that maybe, just maybe, we are already enough.
—Bridget Budd
FAQ's
Is Behind the Mirror a memoir?
No. Behind the Mirror is a novel. Like all fiction, it’s shaped by the textures of life—fragments of memory, emotion, and observation—but its characters and events are imagined. Some readers may recognize echoes of their own experiences, but that’s the nature of story: it reflects our inner lives more than it records the author’s.
Is Behind the Mirror based on your life?
It’s fiction. Like most novels, it’s inspired by the textures of real life—feelings, fragments, questions—but the characters and events are imagined.
Who is Julie Sloan? Is she you?
Julie isn’t me. She’s a character I created to explore themes of self-worth, distorted lenses, and healing. She may carry echoes of experiences many of us share, but she’s her own person.
Why write fiction instead of memoir?
Because story bypasses defenses. Fiction lets us explore truth without being bound by fact, which opens space for readers to see themselves more clearly.
What do you mean by “therapeutic fiction”?
I write literary fiction with a therapeutic undercurrent—stories designed not just to entertain, but to hold up a mirror. My work blends narrative with insight from psychology and trauma-informed healing.
What if I see myself in one of your characters?
That’s the power of fiction—it reflects our own inner lives. If you recognize yourself, it’s not because I wrote about you, but because the story stirred something real in you.
What’s the main theme of Behind the Mirror?
It’s about the lenses we inherit—how conditioning and survival patterns shape what we see, believe, and repeat. And how freedom begins the moment we notice the lens itself.
More Praise for Behind The Mirror
Erin Viancourt, Nashville Country Music Artist
Heidi Carlson, Life Coach & Creator of The Mother Wound Awakening™
Andrea Tessier, M.Ed, Master Life Coach, IFS Practitioner
"Reading “Behind the Mirror” felt like hearing a song I didn’t know I needed, it's honest, gritty, and healing in all the right places. Bridget Budd doesn’t sugarcoat the hard stuff, which makes her story so powerful. As a performer, I often lose focus of the truest version of myself and the version I think people want from me, but then I remember, just like a song, most people want to know that they’re not alone, life is messy and not always what it looks like from the outside looking in. This book is a reminder that even when life feels out of tune, there’s a deeper harmony waiting if we’re brave enough to listen. If you’ve ever felt lost behind the version of yourself you show the world, this book is for you."
Andrea Tessier, M.Ed, Master Life Coach, IFS Practitioner
Heidi Carlson, Life Coach & Creator of The Mother Wound Awakening™
Andrea Tessier, M.Ed, Master Life Coach, IFS Practitioner
"There comes a point in every woman’s life when she must meet herself fully—no longer blaming, no longer bypassing, but choosing radical responsibility, not as punishment, but as liberation. Behind the Mirror is an honest and utterly absorbing reflection of that journey. Bridget Budd weaves the delicate lives of her characters into a tapestry so real and raw, I found myself both lost and found in its pages. With raw elegance and deep reverence, Budd seamlessly integrates the potency of Parts Work into the story—offering a portrayal that is resonant, accurate, and profoundly moving.
Heidi Carlson, Life Coach & Creator of The Mother Wound Awakening™
Heidi Carlson, Life Coach & Creator of The Mother Wound Awakening™
Heidi Carlson, Life Coach & Creator of The Mother Wound Awakening™
"This book is a gift for anyone curious and ready to explore the patterns, triggers, and inner struggles that quietly shape our lives.
With honesty and compassion, Budd vulnerably guides readers inward, helping them understand how early childhood experiences create survival strategies that once protected us but fuel emotional pain and unhealthy cycles in adulthood.
Through Budd’s personal journey of self-awareness, growth, and healing, she illuminates a path toward true freedom—reminding us that real happiness is found within ourselves, not in the external world.”
Dr. Katherine T. Kelly, Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Kerk Murray, bestselling author of Since the Day We Danced
Heidi Carlson, Life Coach & Creator of The Mother Wound Awakening™
"Bridget Budd deftly weaves together a relatable story, layered with
humor, humility and, in the end, a soulful surrender to self-love. A
beautiful tale that will empower any woman on their journey within! "
Kerk Murray, bestselling author of Since the Day We Danced
Kerk Murray, bestselling author of Since the Day We Danced
Kerk Murray, bestselling author of Since the Day We Danced
"Budd's unflinching honesty about love, loss, and self-discovery makes this novel both heartbreaking and healing.
Raw, real, and ultimately redemptive."
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