When Meg Mason took herself off to her shed to write her third book, a certain pragmatic confidence accompanied her. But at the centre of it all stands the reality of Martha’s mental illness, a condition that catapults her into periods of intolerable sadness, epic self-destruction and terrifying isolation. In the aftermath of her disastrous first start, she explains, she had started writing again with no expectations: “It was a post-hope project. I ask whether she feels prepared for people to ask how much her own life is reflected in Sorrow and Bliss? So what I’ve learned out of Sorrow and Bliss, even if it’s difficult, it shouldn’t be that difficult.

Source: The Guardian June 11, 2021 09:56 UTC