
Underneath the Lemon Tree: A Memoir of Depression and Recovery
Author: Mark Rice-Oxley Category: Depression Publisher: Little Brown : 2015 ISBN: 9780349140308 Pages: 301On paper, things looked good for Mark Rice-Oxley: wife, children, fulfilling job. But then, at his 40th birthday party, his whole world crumbled as he succumbed to depression…
How many men do you know who have been through periods when their lives haven’t seemed right? How badly askew were things for them? Many men suffer from depression yet it is still a subject that is taboo. Men often don’t visit the doctor, or they don’t want to face up to feelings of weakness and vulnerability. By telling his story, Mark Rice-Oxley hopes it will enable others to tell theirs. In this intensely moving memoir, he retraces the months of his utmost despair, revisiting a landscape from which at times he felt he would never escape.
Written with lyricism and poignancy, Mark captures the visceral nature of this most debilitating of illnesses with frightening clarity, while at the same time offering a sympathetic and dispassionate view of what is happening, and perhaps why. This is not a self-help book but a memoir that is brimful of experience, understanding and hope for all those who read it. It is above all honest, touching and surprisingly optimistic.
Note: Buying this book through the link above helps fund the running costs of the Mental Health Forum. The book may be available through your local public library.