Would you read a fictional book about a mentally ill person

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amother

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 2:44 pm

I was wondering if this topic would just go over well with people who are in families with mentally ill people or if this is a topic that the general public may find interesting to read.

My spouse is mentally ill and sometimes to take my mind off things, I have started writing a story, not my own, a very fictional one, but it is about a family where the father is mentally ill and how it effects everything in their lives.

Is this something that people would want to read? Is it worth my while to try to go to a publisher when I am done (I have written a lot, not just 5 pages)

imasinger

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 2:47 pm

I would.

chani8

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 2:56 pm

Go for it!!

robynm

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 3:11 pm

I'd read it.

jerusalem-girl

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 3:24 pm

Me too.

PinkFridge

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 4:46 pm

There are some books already. There's one IIRC by Ruth Arielli that was serialized in Hamodia. You may want to get hold of it to see how yours would be different, more realistic, whatever. Hatzlacha in everything!

forever21

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:06 pm

Years ago I read a book called "the quiet room" about a girl with schizophrenia. It was very interesting! Diff family members wrote in different chapters of the book. The girl herself wrote about her illness as well.

Isramom8

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:09 pm

Sure, there are lots of secular books on this topic. Still Alice, House Rules and Memories of Summer come to mind as favorites. Look them uo on Amazon - you may be able to read excerpts.

forever21

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:11 pm

Isramom, are these books non fictional? I would love to read them.

Isramom8

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:42 pm

forever21 wrote:

Isramom, are these books non fictional? I would love to read them.

They are fictional. But the first and the third feel real.

Barbara

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:47 pm

Isramom8 wrote:

Sure, there are lots of secular books on this topic. Still Alice, House Rules and Memories of Summer come to mind as favorites. Look them uo on Amazon - you may be able to read excerpts.

There's also Joanne Greenberg's I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. Old, but still powerful. Not to mention Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.

tsiggelle

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 5:54 pm

n. hirsch wrote 'innocent deceptions', about someone with bipolar

PinkFridge

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 7:24 pm

Barbara, I read both of them.
OP, what kind of audience are you thinking of?

Rubber Ducky

Wed, Apr 10 2013, 7:46 pm

Would I read a novel about mental illness? Yes, and I have. Like Tsigelle, I've read Innocent Deceptions; as I recall, it was pretty good. Here's a link to an interesting interview with the author: Innocent Deceptions Review and Interview with Naomi Hirsch.

Right now there's a serial running in Family First, "Sisters Under Siege," where one of the main characters is mentally ill. It's set in Yerushalayim during the war for Independence, and I'm enjoying it. Apparently they didn't use psychotropic drugs for schizophrenia back then, at least not in Yerushalayim.

edited to correct typo

Last edited by Rubber Ducky on Thu, Apr 11 2013, 9:24 am; edited 1 time in total

MyTimeNow

Thu, Apr 11 2013, 12:27 am

Oh, I remember innocent deceptions! I could NOT put that book down!

amother

Thu, Apr 11 2013, 8:07 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Thanks (Im the OP) I dont live where I can buy that magazine or the other jewish ones either, but I was not planning on gearing towards the frum population anyway. I was planning on just writing whatever flows from my mind and see where it goes.

Someone asked what audience? I would say from mature teen to adult.

And I would probably write it under a pen name.

tsiggelle

Thu, Apr 11 2013, 8:46 am

btw, ruth arielli's story was published as a book too (after the serial ended).

Isramom8

Thu, Apr 11 2013, 9:21 am

Flowers for Algernon, Curious Dog in the Nighttime (bad language but appropriate in context)

OP, you should read these and those listed above, or at least excerpts, to see what gets read on this topic. Behatzlacha! I hope it is therapeutic for you.

Isramom8

Thu, Apr 11 2013, 9:24 am

Interestingly, the books I mentioned are for the most part clean. I guess the topic of mental illness is interesting enough.

anon for this

Thu, Apr 11 2013, 9:49 am

Isramom8 wrote:

In Flowers for Algernon, Charlie is not mentally ill, he is [crazy], with an IQ below 70.

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