Review
"Written with great flair, clarity, imaginative intensity, and extraordinary confidence and style. Honest and unvarnished and without mawkishness of any kind. Convincing, gripping and moving, it will deserve to be a triumph." JONATHAN DIMBLEBY "An unobtrusive tact and rare capacity for empathy" ANTHONY STORR, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“Astonishing. . . . Mary Loudon sets out to learn the story of her vanished sister, but winds up finding herself. A haunting, harrowing meditation on the meaning of family, of love, and of madness. Memorable, lyrical, and unsettling.”
–Jennifer Boylan, author of She's Not There
“People as empathic as Mary Loudon are rare. Writers as incisive and clean are even rarer. Her loving, sharp, elucidating journey into the mind of madness is a testament to the power of understanding.”
–Norah Vincent, author of New York Times Bestseller Self-Made Man
"Loudon has "a novelist’s eye for detail – nudging the heartbreaking chaos of her sister’s terrible flat towards the transforming beauty of still life. . . . Vivid, true and moving."
–The Times (UK)
"One of the most moving and compelling memoirs of the year. . . . Balanced, thoughtful, . . . . a brilliantly clear portrait of the havoc mental illness can wreak in a family’s life."
–The Scotsman (UK)
"Remarkable and very affecting, and a comfort too. Mary Loudon sees through the dark of insanity to the light of understanding."
–Fay Weldon
“Written with great flair, clarity, imaginative intensity, and extraordinary confidence and style. Honest and unvarnished and without mawkishness of any kind. Convincing, gripping and moving, it will deserve to be a triumph.”
–Jonathan Dimbleby
“[Loudon’s] book heaves with emotional involvement: our hackles rise when a man who runs a drop-in centre describes Catherine as a ‘shadowy figure’, precisely the sort of dismissal from which this account succeeds in rescuing her. . . . ‘I see a woman who didn’t lack friends,’ the author concludes, satisfied. Nor did she lack a sister who loved her.”
–The Sunday Times (UK)
“[A] moving memoir [that] describes how mental illness can break even the strongest bonds. . . . Relative Stranger reads almost like a novel of the well written kind. . . . [A] remarkable and powerful illustration of the value of every human life, no matter how it is lived. . . . [An] extraordinary story of ordinary people.”
–Scotland on Sunday
“An intelligent work of self-searching, self-reassurance and justification. . . . Loudon’s clear moral tone and determined purpose give her prose a swing and balance.”
–The Guardian (UK)
“This is a touching and revealing account of a life discovered after death.”
–Sunday Herald (Glasgow)
“One of the most moving and compelling memoirs of the year. . . . Balanced, thoughtful, and never strains for emotive effect. . . . [A] brilliantly clear portrait of the havoc mental illness can wreak in a family’s life, showing just how much of a personality it can occlude, but also the value of what’s left.”–The Scotsman
“A perceptive and sensitive exploration of the judgments that society makes on the value of people's lives. . . . This book will offer balm to many who have loved and lost a person with severe mental illness, and challenges many of the myopic misconceptions and generalizations that are ascribed to those who live with mental illness.”–The Lancet (UK medical journal)
“Loudon is always honest, and her internal journey as she faces head-on her older sister’s illness and alter-ego is compelling. . . . Loudon has successfully confronted her demons in this book, and there will be many readers who can empathize. They may even take comfort from the writer’s experiences.”–The Oxford Times Supplement (UK)
“Loudon’s accomplishment here seems courageous and large. The world feels more alarming, but somehow wider with this account of an estranged, and strangely vital relative who lived in it, for a while.”–Times Literary Supplement
“Move this to the top of your reading list because it’s a gem, in which Loudon tackles the tricky subject of how you grieve for a loved one you barely knew…It’s a book full of questions — because isn’t that what you’re left with when you lose someone? — as well as a vibrantly honest account of raw emotions.” --Glamour
“[Loudon’s sister] Catherine was schizophrenic. With that nugget of information, the way opens for a wistful, we-have-recognize-the-devastation-this-disease-wreaks book, but Loudon doesn’t take that route. Relative Stranger: A Life After Death reads more like a travel mystery, undercut with bleak humour. . . . Beneath it all is Loudon’s admiration for the ‘family’ that did look after Catherine. . . . Loudon has written not just a history of the sister she never saw as an adult, but a weird travel book about a place that most of us, if we’re lucky, will escape visiting.”–Toronto Star
From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
–Jennifer Boylan, author of She's Not There
“People as empathic as Mary Loudon are rare. Writers as incisive and clean are even rarer. Her loving, sharp, elucidating journey into the mind of madness is a testament to the power of understanding.”
–Norah Vincent, author of New York Times Bestseller Self-Made Man
"Loudon has "a novelist’s eye for detail – nudging the heartbreaking chaos of her sister’s terrible flat towards the transforming beauty of still life. . . . Vivid, true and moving."
–The Times (UK)
"One of the most moving and compelling memoirs of the year. . . . Balanced, thoughtful, . . . . a brilliantly clear portrait of the havoc mental illness can wreak in a family’s life."
–The Scotsman (UK)
"Remarkable and very affecting, and a comfort too. Mary Loudon sees through the dark of insanity to the light of understanding."
–Fay Weldon
“Written with great flair, clarity, imaginative intensity, and extraordinary confidence and style. Honest and unvarnished and without mawkishness of any kind. Convincing, gripping and moving, it will deserve to be a triumph.”
–Jonathan Dimbleby
“[Loudon’s] book heaves with emotional involvement: our hackles rise when a man who runs a drop-in centre describes Catherine as a ‘shadowy figure’, precisely the sort of dismissal from which this account succeeds in rescuing her. . . . ‘I see a woman who didn’t lack friends,’ the author concludes, satisfied. Nor did she lack a sister who loved her.”
–The Sunday Times (UK)
“[A] moving memoir [that] describes how mental illness can break even the strongest bonds. . . . Relative Stranger reads almost like a novel of the well written kind. . . . [A] remarkable and powerful illustration of the value of every human life, no matter how it is lived. . . . [An] extraordinary story of ordinary people.”
–Scotland on Sunday
“An intelligent work of self-searching, self-reassurance and justification. . . . Loudon’s clear moral tone and determined purpose give her prose a swing and balance.”
–The Guardian (UK)
“This is a touching and revealing account of a life discovered after death.”
–Sunday Herald (Glasgow)
“One of the most moving and compelling memoirs of the year. . . . Balanced, thoughtful, and never strains for emotive effect. . . . [A] brilliantly clear portrait of the havoc mental illness can wreak in a family’s life, showing just how much of a personality it can occlude, but also the value of what’s left.”–The Scotsman
“A perceptive and sensitive exploration of the judgments that society makes on the value of people's lives. . . . This book will offer balm to many who have loved and lost a person with severe mental illness, and challenges many of the myopic misconceptions and generalizations that are ascribed to those who live with mental illness.”–The Lancet (UK medical journal)
“Loudon is always honest, and her internal journey as she faces head-on her older sister’s illness and alter-ego is compelling. . . . Loudon has successfully confronted her demons in this book, and there will be many readers who can empathize. They may even take comfort from the writer’s experiences.”–The Oxford Times Supplement (UK)
“Loudon’s accomplishment here seems courageous and large. The world feels more alarming, but somehow wider with this account of an estranged, and strangely vital relative who lived in it, for a while.”–Times Literary Supplement
“Move this to the top of your reading list because it’s a gem, in which Loudon tackles the tricky subject of how you grieve for a loved one you barely knew…It’s a book full of questions — because isn’t that what you’re left with when you lose someone? — as well as a vibrantly honest account of raw emotions.” --Glamour
“[Loudon’s sister] Catherine was schizophrenic. With that nugget of information, the way opens for a wistful, we-have-recognize-the-devastation-this-disease-wreaks book, but Loudon doesn’t take that route. Relative Stranger: A Life After Death reads more like a travel mystery, undercut with bleak humour. . . . Beneath it all is Loudon’s admiration for the ‘family’ that did look after Catherine. . . . Loudon has written not just a history of the sister she never saw as an adult, but a weird travel book about a place that most of us, if we’re lucky, will escape visiting.”–Toronto Star
From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
