Piece of Mind by Michelle Adelman is a debut novel with a unique
perspective. The narrator is Lucy, a 27
year old woman who lives with her father because, at the age of three, she was
in a serious accident that resulted in traumatic brain injury. While Lucy cares for herself, she cannot
drive, hold a job, or even really plan for the future due to limited executive
functioning. Her strengths lie in her
drawing ability, her sweet temperament, and her empathy with animals.
She moves to New York to be with her college age
brother and frequently visits the zoo and a local coffee shop, all while
tentatively testing her independence and forging new relationships. Both Lucy and her brother experience a range
of emotions and struggle to cope with their changing circumstances. I found
Lucy’s voice to be very real and her introspection to feel like a dialogue at
times. Kirkus says, “a soft-edged portrait of a subject who struggles to
grasp complexity.” I was fascinated at the glimpses of Lucy’s
thought process, inspired in part by Adelman’s real life sister. Starred reviews from Library Journal
and Publishers Weekly for Piece of Mind.
As I was reading Piece of Mind, I also read a non-fiction memoir about depression and anxiety: Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig. It was unexpected, but these two books seemed to complement each other, sharing stories of resilience.
Reasons to Stay Alive by British author Matt Haig is a very powerful book. Haig depicts the pain of depression and
anxiety and describes what his brain feels like, while acknowledging that the
experience is unique for everyone. As
you read, it is likely that an emotional pain will be there, too, especially if
you or someone you love is among the twenty percent (yes, one in five) of the
population who experiences depression.
Reasons to Stay Alive definitely increased my understanding of this condition and
my empathy for people who face depression.
It’s a relatively short book (272 pages) and one that is best
read – and then re-read - in parts, but it is ultimately a hopeful work and absolutely
worth reading.
Mental health seems
increasingly to be a focus for new books. Another related title which is on my
“to read” list is The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork, a favorite
author with titles like Marcelo and the Real World. In this new novel, Stork explores the story
of a teenager learning to live with clinical depression. Do you have a related title to recommend? If
so, please let us know.
