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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
What an interesting, realistic first-hand account of living with mental health challenges and how that impacts those around you. In particular, how powerful it was for Martha to receive an accurate diagnosis - it was so interesting to use that as a turning point in the novel. I loved that this story covered the first forty years of Martha's life and went through ups and downs just like life. I also loved her relationships with her family and husband.
While the style of writing was a little pretentious and hard to get into at the start, I found myself hooked in the second half.
While the style of writing was a little pretentious and hard to get into at the start, I found myself hooked in the second half.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“…And I wonder, is there any way you could come to see that what you’ve been through is for something?
Is it why you feel everything and love harder and fight more ferociously than anyone else? Is it why you are the love of your sister’s life? Why you’ll be a writer of much more, one day, than a small supermarket column? How you can be my fiercest bloody critic, and someone with so much compassion she’ll buy glasses she doesn’t need because the man fell off his stool. Martha, when you are in a room, nobody wants to talk to anyone else. Why is that, if not for the life you have lived, as someone who has been refined by fire?”
A few summers ago, I read (and fell in love with) Some Kind of Happiness by Claire LeGrande, and since then, I’ve been trying to find an adult novel that hits the same way. This is so beautifully and perfectly it. Finley and Martha shared so many traits and tendencies - they’re both bright, observant, and deeply emotional, and also entirely oblivious of the people and support and love in their lives (for significant reasons, but still).
If Fleabag were a book, it would be Sorrow and Bliss. It’s dark humor perfection in so many spots. I didn’t expect to laugh out loud as much as I did, but the writing is so damn good and funny, and Ingrid is a masterpiece all her own in this regard:
“The only one-day thing Hamish could find was a group workshop. In the conflict resolution module, the facilitator shared that sometimes, in the middle of an argument, he and his partner might say something along the lines of, ‘Hey, let’s have a time out! Let’s go and get burgers!’ He said that it worked in almost every instance, especially in conjunction with sticking to I statements, and asked if there were any questions.
Ingrid raised her hand and, without warning, asked if, say, a husband was constantly getting his wife pregnant - with boys - and provided as much help with them as someone with a secret second family, and the best me-time the wife had had in the last fourteen months was during an MRI, and she fantasized all the time about being sent for another one, and they were always fighting, would the burger thing work then?’
All of Meg Mason’s characters are so well constructed and purposeful; there are so many layers to Martha’s story, and the role each person plays in her journey is multifaceted as a result. It felt realistic, as we consider how our own family members shape who we become, and how that shifts over time (in both good and bad ways). Without a doubt, Martha’s relationship with her mom is pretty diabolical at times, but I loved seeing how that same dynamic evolved as the characters did themselves. There were some really unexpected heroes in her life - and while I wouldn’t necessarily call the ending a perfectly happy one, it highlights the presence and importance of your “village” and the fact that support can come from unusual sources, and to not count anyone out (except maybe Rowland, who is always horrible).
Martha’s story is relatable - I would guess for every reader in a different way, depending on your own experiences with mental health. While I totally loved this and the wild ride of emotions and humor it offered, it probably would be triggering for some who have been in Martha’s shoes. But I think the overall message, of being able to recognize the love and supports in your life, and managing your own emotional well being while still being aware of others’, is pretty universal, and that absolutely makes it worth a read.
Is it why you feel everything and love harder and fight more ferociously than anyone else? Is it why you are the love of your sister’s life? Why you’ll be a writer of much more, one day, than a small supermarket column? How you can be my fiercest bloody critic, and someone with so much compassion she’ll buy glasses she doesn’t need because the man fell off his stool. Martha, when you are in a room, nobody wants to talk to anyone else. Why is that, if not for the life you have lived, as someone who has been refined by fire?”
A few summers ago, I read (and fell in love with) Some Kind of Happiness by Claire LeGrande, and since then, I’ve been trying to find an adult novel that hits the same way. This is so beautifully and perfectly it. Finley and Martha shared so many traits and tendencies - they’re both bright, observant, and deeply emotional, and also entirely oblivious of the people and support and love in their lives (for significant reasons, but still).
If Fleabag were a book, it would be Sorrow and Bliss. It’s dark humor perfection in so many spots. I didn’t expect to laugh out loud as much as I did, but the writing is so damn good and funny, and Ingrid is a masterpiece all her own in this regard:
“The only one-day thing Hamish could find was a group workshop. In the conflict resolution module, the facilitator shared that sometimes, in the middle of an argument, he and his partner might say something along the lines of, ‘Hey, let’s have a time out! Let’s go and get burgers!’ He said that it worked in almost every instance, especially in conjunction with sticking to I statements, and asked if there were any questions.
Ingrid raised her hand and, without warning, asked if, say, a husband was constantly getting his wife pregnant - with boys - and provided as much help with them as someone with a secret second family, and the best me-time the wife had had in the last fourteen months was during an MRI, and she fantasized all the time about being sent for another one, and they were always fighting, would the burger thing work then?’
All of Meg Mason’s characters are so well constructed and purposeful; there are so many layers to Martha’s story, and the role each person plays in her journey is multifaceted as a result. It felt realistic, as we consider how our own family members shape who we become, and how that shifts over time (in both good and bad ways). Without a doubt, Martha’s relationship with her mom is pretty diabolical at times, but I loved seeing how that same dynamic evolved as the characters did themselves. There were some really unexpected heroes in her life - and while I wouldn’t necessarily call the ending a perfectly happy one, it highlights the presence and importance of your “village” and the fact that support can come from unusual sources, and to not count anyone out (except maybe Rowland, who is always horrible).
Martha’s story is relatable - I would guess for every reader in a different way, depending on your own experiences with mental health. While I totally loved this and the wild ride of emotions and humor it offered, it probably would be triggering for some who have been in Martha’s shoes. But I think the overall message, of being able to recognize the love and supports in your life, and managing your own emotional well being while still being aware of others’, is pretty universal, and that absolutely makes it worth a read.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a powerful and poignant story about the many complexities and layers of mental illness, from the perspective of the sufferer, but also for those who live with them. There were many points during the story I felt weary for Martha, the main character, but never once was I weary of journeying with her. I really loved the way Meg Mason explores all the facets of living with someone with mental illness. Often in a story we only get a brief glimpse of all the different angles, but in Sorrow and Bliss it feels like we get the whole of it, from its beginning to end. There were times I felt a kinship with Martha, having felt that "bone tiredness", struggling with myself, my mind, my place in the world, and how the people in my life have to alongside it. This book has a heavy and complicated subject matter, but is written simply and beautifully.