Sunbathing in the Rain: A Cheerful Book on Depression

by Gwyneth Lewis

Book Overview

This might well be the Age of Depression. More people than ever now experience the disease directly or see a friend or relative succumb to it. Among their number is Gwyneth Lewis. And she set about writing this book simply because she wished something like it had existed for her when she was in the middle of her depression.

Depression is assassination. The depressive is both victim and detective - charged with tracking down the perpetrator...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1843105055
• ISBN13: 9781843105053
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful, sensitive book

This book is recommended by the psychologist Dorothy Rowe as one of the best examples of writing by a person suffering from depression and that is very true. The early part of the book in which she depicts her inability to function at all was very gratifying to one who thinks they are the only person in the world who can't get out of bed. Her "rules" were marvellous - I especially liked the one (my paraphrasing)"don't do anything you don't want to do". How liberating and the last thing most perfectionist depressives ever even think of. I was almost sad when she recovered because her advice became that tiresome "get exercise and eat well" variety of which we hear so much and which helps not a jot. The early part of the book is a gem, though.

Why didn't I have this three years ago?

I happened to pick this book up in a library and couldn't put it down. The writing is beautiful and, after years of depression, it was the first book that made any sense to me. It is not, and Lewis does not claim it to be, a substitute for therapy or medication. However, I found it soothing and true. Her insights were well worth the read and the thought-provoking quotations gave the text a magical quality. Sometimes this poet's words moved beyond memoir into prose poetry. This is a rare genre of book, a book whose beauty is balanced with utility and spirituality. In other words, it is now one of my all time favorites.