Emotional Reader

Emma Forrest has a way with conducting a story. Her talent shines as she weaves her memoir into a tale that reads like fiction, yet presents constant reflection--almost as a third party--to her experiences, doing so in a charming and funny, yet heartfelt and honest way. I laughed, I cried a bit, commiserated tons, and just faced the fucking facts: We all have our struggles and living is the hard part; but perseverance is always a path awaiting our pursuit, if we choose it. I think this also sums up the brilliance of Emma's writing abilities. Though many people reading this may be unable to understand exactly the madness and struggle and pain a person with such mental illness experiences, she managed to bring recognition to the common griefs we share throughout life as human beings, and bridged a connection we all could share in some how. Emma Forrest, talented English writer, has been suffering from mental illness since her early teens. She's Bipolar--the most sever form of manic-depression. Your Voice in My Head is mostly a tribute to the person she credits with saving her life, Dr. R, her psychiatrist whom she met in NY a couple weeks before trying to commit suicide in her early 20s. Dr. R died abruptly (to her, because she didn't know he was sick) from cancer complications in May 2008. This memoir served as a way to honor him for his efforts in helping her on her journey to wellness, including accounts of her deepest times of despair and struggles with the dark days, as well an endeavor to remember his guidance in order to help her charter the dark waters she now faces in her present without his counsel...a means of self-preservation without her life preserver if you will, as the battle to live--for her--is a revisiting struggle she wears like a garment of clothing. I imagined writing Your Voice in My Head was also something Emma undertook to help her cope with his absence in her life. The retelling basically synchronizes their time together and how his counsel has led to her getting healthy. I hope that she keeps living her life, writing, and experiencing new things that make her happy. I hope one day she will indeed make love last and come to know her true Gypsy Husband. And I most certainly hope that Dr., R will always be a comforting voice, a voice of reason, in her head. Thank you for sharing your story, Emma.