I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait

I’M SORRY YOU FEEL THAT WAY

This is one of those books that very subtly and gradually grew on me. About 90 pages in I was considering putting this down unfinished as I found the characters aggravating but upon reflection I reckon this was the authors absolute intention. I’m so pleased I persevered as this was one of the most thought provoking stories of severe mental ill health and cyclical family dysfunction that I have come across.

Published last month and lauded as being for lovers of sorrow and bliss( we are BIG fans) this wasn’t as laugh out loud for me but there was a lot more space here to flesh out the individual back stories of the main cast. 

Alice and Hanna are twins in name only, dealing with their pompous, self aggrandising brother Michael, a domineering, difficult mother and an absent father. Alice is the rather sickly sweet, ball of nerves to Hanna’s confident daredevil personality and their fractured relationship seems beyond repair as they enter their thirties. 

Thinking about this book what I loved the most is the exploration of how our childhoods and how we are labelled as kids seeps into our adulthood. The fear of mental health and psychosis that bleeds into the next generation, the different tensions that are revealed in the chapters about their mother and her sister growing up were excellent narrative strands, adding so much to the story. 

The last 100 pages I read quickly as the pace built and there was genuine satisfaction at the conclusion. There was a lightness and ease to this book and by the end I wanted to give all of them a tight hug ~ C

Ad:PR Thank you @riverrun_books@quercusbooks and to our dearest @anabooks for sending this over