Book 58 - Meg Mason "Sorrow And Bliss"
Meg Mason "Sorrow And Bliss" (W&N Books)
This book showed up on a best of list and I decided that it seemed interesting so I tried it and I was very impressed. Mason is an excellent writer and the book that deals with mental illness is full of humor but deals well with a serious subject. The book takes place in London and Oxford. We meet Martha a 40 year old married woman with no children just as her husband Patrick is leaving her. From there we are told Martha's story through her first person narrative.
I always have a slight problem with books in the first person because I can never trust their assessment of the other characters in the book but in this case it is best told this way. Martha has been dealing with depression and long episodes of it since she was 17 but over the years she has gone from doctor to doctor and medicine to medicine with no firm diagnosis or cure. Along the way we meet the people in her life including her husband Patrick and her sister Ingrid. Each character brings a unique voice to the book and Martha's exchanges with her sister are where most of the humor comes from. This is a serious book but one that deals with so many issues of family relationships which are always difficult but even more so given Martha's mental illness. This was an excellent book and at 330 pages it was just the right length. For anyone who has ever struggled with mental illness or has a close relationship with someone in this situation, this book is a must read.
This book showed up on a best of list and I decided that it seemed interesting so I tried it and I was very impressed. Mason is an excellent writer and the book that deals with mental illness is full of humor but deals well with a serious subject. The book takes place in London and Oxford. We meet Martha a 40 year old married woman with no children just as her husband Patrick is leaving her. From there we are told Martha's story through her first person narrative.
I always have a slight problem with books in the first person because I can never trust their assessment of the other characters in the book but in this case it is best told this way. Martha has been dealing with depression and long episodes of it since she was 17 but over the years she has gone from doctor to doctor and medicine to medicine with no firm diagnosis or cure. Along the way we meet the people in her life including her husband Patrick and her sister Ingrid. Each character brings a unique voice to the book and Martha's exchanges with her sister are where most of the humor comes from. This is a serious book but one that deals with so many issues of family relationships which are always difficult but even more so given Martha's mental illness. This was an excellent book and at 330 pages it was just the right length. For anyone who has ever struggled with mental illness or has a close relationship with someone in this situation, this book is a must read.