by: Meg Mason
Goodreads Description:
This novel is about a woman called Martha. She knows there is something wrong with her but she doesn’t know what it is. Her husband Patrick thinks she is fine. He says everyone has something, the thing is just to keep going.
Martha told Patrick before they got married that she didn’t want to have children. He said he didn’t mind either way because he has loved her since he was fourteen and making her happy is all that matters, although he does not seem able to do it.
By the time Martha finds out what is wrong, it doesn’t really matter anymore. It is too late to get the only thing she has ever wanted. Or maybe it will turn out that you can stop loving someone and start again from nothing – if you can find something else to want.
Helen says: 🤓🤓🤓🤓
There seems to be a new popular genre of fiction that has appealed to me over the last few years. Not exactly “chick lit”, I refer to it as “poor mental health comedy”. In the same style as Where’d Did You Go Bernadette and My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Sorrow and Bliss was a hilarious look at depression. It was laugh out loud funny! Draining at times, I would have to put it down for a bit, but I was always thoroughly entertained when I picked it back up. My only complaint is that I think I missed some of the British colloquialisms. I can’t even imagine how funny this book would have been if I had gotten 100% of the nuances. I really liked it!
Holly says: 🤓🤓🤓1/2
I also recommend this one for a good read, but probably not for everyone. Although a novel, I would think this is a very accurate portrayal of a smart, talented, funny, but somewhat sarcastic woman living with a periodically debilitating mental illness. Martha, the protagonist is all of those things, but she is also acerbic and quite unlikeable. More unlikeable than Martha is her completely annoying mother. Martha manages to drive away everyone in her life, but you root for her anyway.
As a side note: three of the month’s books were written by first time novelists – a very talented trio!
Helen and Holly Hit the Books 