It’s not just the sufferer who is impacted, it’s all the loved ones as well. What is special in this novel is how author Mason shows the tenacles that mental illness imbeds in families. This is a character driven story of a woman who has loving family and friends who support her. She’s seen doctors and psychiatrists, all prescribing different meds, all with the caution of NOT getting pregnant while taking these meds. Basically she’s a healthy and happy person yet, at times she’s a miserable mess, and she just can’t pull herself out of it.
Something happened to her when she turned seventeen she can’t explain it other than it’s like a bomb went off in her brain. She understands she’s messing up, and she knows there is something wrong with her. In “Sorrow and Bliss”, the main character, Martha, is a true queen of self-sabotaging. What I enjoyed most about Meg Mason’s “Sorrow and Bliss” is that she portrayed mental illness in its complicated and realistic light. A combination of heart-tugging sadness, humour and short, punchy chapters made it impossible to put down. I felt deeply invested in these characters in a way I haven't felt for a while. It got to a point where I was desperately reading towards what I knew was coming, heartbroken, hoping things would- could -resolve in a way that didn't leave me destroyed. The story then takes us back to the beginning, to their first meeting when Martha was fourteen and through all the ups and downs that came after. The book opens with Martha's husband Patrick leaving her two days after her fortieth birthday. A sweet, tender, rips-your-heart-out-of-your-chest love story. I really do know how it feels to feel like you're just failing at being human and how wonderful and liberating it is to find answers.īut also, this book is a love story. "But the thing about labels is, they're useful when they're right because," I carried on through her attempt at interruption, "because then you don't give yourself the wrong ones, like difficult or insane, or psychotic or a bad wife." From now on, I may just refer commenters to this book instead of trying to explain my problem with the neurotypical Theo's anti-label, anti-diagnosis stance for his clearly neurodivergent son. It felt like a healing balm after I had such a negative reaction to the widely-loved Bewilderment. Sorrow and Bliss is, essentially, about mental illness, the debilitating and relationship-destroying effect it can have on a person's life, and the importance of a correct diagnosis and treatment plan.
I admit this list needs a catchier title. Sorrow and Bliss is the latest addition to the short list of "books that make me feel like laughing and crying in equal measure".
Eleanor Oliphant is one that did it for me. It's not often that books this charming and irreverently funny are also as sad, moving and hard-hitting.
“Everything is broken and messed up and completely fine.
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