Kylie Maslen, author of Show Me Where It Hurts A Kind of Magic should be read by anyone wanting to understand mental illness, and for anyone with mental illness wanting to be understood.
By taking us inside therapy sessions, hospital wards, and cars, rooms and self-talk that act as entrapment, we are given an opportunity to learn, to empathise and to love. ‘With humour, generosity and courage, Anna Spargo-Ryan narrates an experience that is so often impossible to put into words. ’Ĭlementine Ford, author of Fight Like A Girl and How We Love ‘Anna Spargo-Ryan writes with the kind of searing insight and beauty that both shatters your soul and also pieces it back together. Sarah Krasnostein, author of The Trauma Cleaner and The Believer ‘The magic in this necessary and beautiful book is how deftly Spargo-Ryan shines her light on life's dark materials to offer comfort and inspiration to the rest of us. For those wishing to better understand what that’s like (perhaps even mental health clinicians, therapists and support workers), this book may help bridge gaps in communicating such an individual experience, hopefully leading to better health care.’ It’s especially affirming for anyone living with mental illness. ‘ A Kind of Magic is ultimately an uplifting read that’s brimming with hope. There is hope at the end of this book, but thank god it’s the sort of hope we actually need: the hope, slowly emerging in mainstream society, that those of us with mental health challenges will be seen and heard rather than being wished better.’ It is a wonderful, wide-ranging feat … This is the way to write it: as it really is. A Kind of Magic is Anna Spargo-Ryan’s epic, relentlessly honest autobiography of a life lived under the many umbrellas of mental illness. ‘It's still quite something to read a book that speaks the truth about mental health. ‘Exquisitely honest, A Kind of Magic is an unforgettable example of empowerment via the gradual restructuring of narrative identity’ It is also very, very funny, and touching, and deeply empathetic.’ Spargo-Ryan’s personal story is undeniably dark her memoir is an ongoing survivor’s story.
‘ A Kind of Magic is ultimately a hopeful book. An eternal optimist and a gorgeous writer, Spargo-Ryan proves that no matter how much stigma surrounds an illness – and how ferociously that illness might mess with your memory, identity, life – you still have agency and a narrative that deserves respect.’ ‘so open-hearted, so generous and so funny that in its darkest moments – and there are many – you will find yourself enraged by the medical industry that failed her, and by those who didn’t help. She warm-heartedly weaves her experiences with humanity and a sense of optimism that makes this book a cozy reprieve.’ ‘With courage and grace, Anna Spargo-Ryan gently lends her experiences of a lifetime of mental illness without flinching from its searing reality. Powerfully honest, tender and often funny, A Kind of Magic blends meticulous research with vivid snapshots of the stuff that breaks us, and the magic of finding ourselves again. Against the backdrop of her own experience, she interrogates reality, how it can be fractured, and why it’s so hard to put it back together. In this sharp-eyed and illuminating memoir, award-winning writer Anna Spargo-Ryan pieces together the relationships between time, mental illness, and our brain as the keeper of our stories. A harsh critic in the big moments – teenage pregnancy, divorce, a dream career, falling in love – and a companion in the small ones – getting to the supermarket, feeding all her cats, remembering which child is which.īut between therapists’ rooms and emergency departments, there’s been a feeling even harder to explain … optimism. Despair.įrom anxious child to terrified parent, mental illness has been a constant.
Or not enough feelings – she’s never been quite sure.
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