Don't Be That [Large Print]

By Ms Elizabeth Leanne Christodoulou

What happens when you spend most of your life becoming the person everyone else needs you to be-only to realise you have almost no idea who you are?

In Don't Be That, Elizabeth looks back at a life shaped by fear, loyalty, marriage, motherhood, sexuality, heartbreak and an almost impressive ability to ignore what was staring her directly in the face.

For years, she did what she thought she was supposed to do. She married. She became a mother. She built a family. She followed the rules-or at least the ones she thought mattered. From the outside, her life looked recognisable. Inside, she was becoming increasingly disconnected from herself.

Then everything changed.

Coming out later in life should have been the moment Elizabeth finally became free. Instead, it opened the door to some of the most exhilarating, destructive and transformative years of her life. Leaving a fifteen-year marriage, navigating motherhood and shared custody, falling desperately in love with a woman, losing herself inside that relationship, and eventually trying to rebuild from the wreckage forced her to confront a truth much bigger than her sexuality:

Knowing who you can love is not the same as knowing how to love yourself.

With uncomfortable honesty, warmth and a healthy willingness to admit when she was being an absolute idiot, Elizabeth examines the relationships that shaped her-the ones that broke her, the ones she fought too hard to keep, and the rare people who simply stayed.

This isn't a story about villains and heroes. It isn't a coming-out fairy tale, and it certainly isn't a guide to making sensible life choices.

It is a story about a woman who spent years frightened of other people's reactions, bending herself into whatever shape she thought would keep her safe and loved, until there wasn't much of herself left.

And then, slowly, she started coming back.

Funny, raw, intimate and deeply human, Don't Be That is a memoir about identity, motherhood, friendship, queer awakening, heartbreak and the messy business of finally becoming yourself.

Because sometimes coming out isn't the end of the story.

Sometimes it's where the real work begins.

And sometimes you have to lose yourself spectacularly before you finally learn how to co

• Format: Paperback
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1764926307
• ISBN13: 9781764926300
• Release Date: September 2026
• Publisher: Elizabeth Christodoulou Publishing
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"