Published by Viking, 2013, softcover, 266 pages, condition; as new.
Madness is a real world for the many thousands of people who are right now living within it. It never apologises. Sometimes it is a shadow, ever present, without regard for the sun. Sometimes it is a well of dark water with no bottom, or a levitation device to the stars.
Madness, a memoir is an insight into what it's like to live with psychosis over a period of ten years, in which bouts of acute illness are interspersed with periods of sanity. The world is beautiful and terrifying and sometimes magical. The sanctity of life is at times precious and at times precarious and always fragile. It's a story of learning to manage illness with courage and creativity, of achieving balance and living well. It is for everyone now living within the world of madness, for everyone touched by this world, and for everyone seeking to further his or her understanding of it, whether you think of madness as a biological illness of the brain or an understandable part of the continuum of the human condition.
"After hearing Toni Jordan praise this memoir on The Book Club last night, I immediately got hold of a sample and read the first chapter or so. Now I understand Jennifer Byrne's reaction to the first page, as I read it with one hand to my chest as if to slow down my heartbeat. I can't wait to read this book in its entirety when I have a couple of days with no expected interruptions."
And six years later:-
It was every bit as raw, powerful and eye-opening as I expected. Kate Richards has laid herself completely bare for the reader in the hope of bringing a greater level of understanding to the insidious disease that is mental illness. The book covers a period of about 6 years, following Kate's journey through therapy, medication adjustments and a number of hospitalisations between the ages of 26 and 31. However, she explains at the outset that the timeline is one thing she has changed for narrative purposes - condensing some periods and stretching others. The other thing she has changed is a number of the characters' names and/or genders for privacy reasons. The rest is her life as a young, highly educated and qualified woman, from a good, ordinary, supportive family, who becomes trapped in what is frequently a nightmare of major depression and psychosis (her actual diagnosis is never absolutely defined). But it's not all grim because Kate is lucky enough to have some wonderful people in her life, helping her to try to be 'normal'.
I am left completely in awe of this woman and what she has been able to achieve; a kind of triumph over her own mind. Although some - actually many - parts of this book are difficult to read, I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to gain some insight or improve their understanding of what it's like to suffer from mental illness.
