This is the second book I have read by M Jonathan Lee, the first being Broken Branches and you can read my review of that here.
I would describe Drift Stumble Fall as being so poignant and one that even after I have finished reading has stayed with me. I finished this a good few weeks ago and can still vividly remember the story and the effect it had on me whilst reading the same.
About the Book
Richard feels trapped in his hectic life
of commitment and responsibility. From the daily mayhem of having young
children, an exhausted wife and pushy in-laws who frequently outstay their
welcome, Richards existence fills him with panic and resentment. The only place
he can escape the dark cloud descending upon him is the bathroom, where he
hides for hours on end, door locked, wondering how on earth he can
escape.
Often staring out of his window, Richard enviously observes the tranquil life of Bill, his neighbour living in the bungalow across the road. From the outside, Bills world appears filled with comfort and peace. Yet underneath the apparent domestic bliss of both lives are lies, secrets, imperfections, sadness and suffering far greater than either could have imagined. Beneath the surface, a family tragedy has left Bill frozen in time and unable to move on. As he waits for a daughter who may never return, Bill watches Richards bustling family life and yearns for the joy it brings. As the two men watch each other from afar, it soon becomes apparent that other people’s lives are not always what they seem.
My Review
We follow two families who live
opposite each other. We meet Richard Brown who feels trapped in the life he has
with his wife and two young children, who watches a couple across the road who
feel have more peaceful and tranquil than him.
Little does he realise that the
man over the road Bill and his wife Rosie have problems of their own and Bill
is jealous of Richard’s family life which to him looks picture perfect. Both
families get snowed in, Richard ending up with his in-laws stopping with him,
which makes him even more determined to try and escape from what he feeds is
his boring mundane life.
Bill and Rosie have their own
private lives and we are given insight into how what has happened has affected
them both.
This book is so poignant and had me
staring out of the tram window on my commute to work thinking long and hard
about people’s appearances and how what looks to be a perfect life on the outside
can be such a troubling life on the inside and behind closed doors.
M. Jonathan Lee deals so
effectively on the subject of mental health and many of the issues that were
dealt with I could relate to either personally or have physical understanding
of how this affects people.
This is the second book I have
read by M. Jonathan Lee and each book has stayed with me long after I have
finished the same.
About the author
M Jonathan Lee is a Yorkshire-based author and mental health
awareness campaigner. He began writing seriously in 2006, shortly after the
suicide of his brother, Simon, and his own struggle with anxiety and
depression. It took nearly five years for Jonathan to write his first novel,
The Radio - a black- comedy which deals with suicide which was shortlisted for
the Novel Prize 2012 (for unpublished authors) and subsequently published in
2013.
Jonathan campaigns
tirelessly to remove the stigma associated with mental health problems and
works closely with various mental health charities including Mind, Time to
Change and Rethink, frequently blogs for the Huffington Post and is a regular
guest on BBC Radio Sheffield talking about mental health. He regularly speaks
in local schools and colleges on writing and mental health and is currently
spearheading a local outreach project in which local churches provide
assistance to those affected by anxiety and depression. Before writing
full-time, Jonathan held a senior position in a FTSE100 company. He lives in
Barnsley, Yorkshire, with his second wife, five children, two cats and a dog.
In 2016, he signed for boutique publishers, Hideaway Fall and his fourth novel Broken Branches was released in July 2017, winning book of the month in Candis magazine for September.
He has recently written for the Big Issue and spoken at length about his own personal struggle on the BBC and Radio Talk Europe.
To connect with M Jonathan Lee click on the links below
Link to buy the book
Thanks to the author and
publisher Hideaway Falls for my review copy. This is my honest and unbiased
opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment