Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007120613 ISBN 13: 9780007120611

Publisher: Flamingo, 2002

This title tackles the subject of depression, an illness that seems to be the defining malaise of the early 21st century. The overall structure of the book moves from dark to light, telling the story of the author's recovery, its different strands allow a variety of tones and subjects to be explored, from the profound to the frivolous. Part memoir - drawing on her own experiences, both adverse and encouraging, as a depressive and an alcoholic - and part guide or companion, the author unpacks her dark memories, and re-embarks on a journey that nearly killed her first time round. She survives, again, and shows how others might, too.

About the Author:

Gwyneth Lewis is an award-winning poet whose work has drawn widespread acclaim. Her last book, Zero Gravity, which followed the journey of her cousin to repair the Hubble Space telescope, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize. She is married and lives in Cardiff.

Review:

'Felicitous, urbane, heartbreaking, the poems of Gwyneth Lewis form a universe whose planets use language for oxygen and are thus inhabitable' Joseph Brodsky 'I started reading the book on a rainy afternoon and read it right through without stopping to late evening. I was seized by its rhythm of discovery, its humour, courage and sharp-eyed insight. Gwyneth truly draws on literature, bringing to bear writers from everywhere and every time as part of present experience. She gives you confidence in poetry. And she is wonderfully down-to-earth in her advice.' Dame Professor Gillian Beer, President of Clare Hall, Cambridge University