THE BOY BETWEEN BY AMANDA PROWSE And Josiah Hartley
Paperback published by Lake Union ( Amazon publishing) 1st November 2020
ISBN 9781542022286
Bestselling novelist Amanda Prowse knew how to resolve a fictional family crisis. But then her son came to her with a real one..
Josiah was nineteen with the world at his feet when things changed. Without warning, the new university student’s mental health deteriorated to the point that he planned his own death. His mother, best selling author Amanda Prowse, found herself grappling for ways to help him, with no clear sense of where that could be found. This is the book they wish had been there for them during those dark times.
Josiah’s situation is not unusual: the statistics on student mental health are terrifying. And he was not the only one suffering; his family was also hijacked by his illness, watching him struggle and fearing the day he might succeed in taking his life.
In this book, Josiah and Amanda hope to give a voice to those who suffer, and to show them that help can be found. It is Josiah’s raw, at times bleak, sometimes humorous, but always honest account of what it is like to live with depression. It is Amanda’s heart-rending account of her pain at watching him suffer, speaking from the heart about a mother’s love for her child.
For anyone with depression and anyone who loves someone with depression, Amanda and Josiah have a clear message you are not alone, and there is hope.
MY REVIEW
The Boy Between A Mother and Son’s Journey From a World Gone Grey, is really sad how Josh suffered from depression, but with a strong family around him, his mother author Amanda Prowse stood by her son and helped him with all of her heart. I really liked the alternative chapters from Josiah in his own words and Amanda Prowse.
Josh starts of this book in his own words about his depression.
The decision to end my life was one that came easily. There was not, as you might imagine, some great wrangling with consequences of something so final. None at all. By the time I came to the conclusion that to slip away from this existence was probably the best thing for me. I had lost the ability to think deeply about anything or anyone. I was beyond reason, with my reality skewed I wasn’t sad. I was numb. This state felt interminable. I was exhausted, and the thought of having to spend the rest of my days in this endless blank circle of desperation was one I was not prepared to contemplate. What was the point? I woke that day in mental fog I had grown accustomed to. All thoughts were slow and slurred, making rational thinking improbable. It must have been daytime as the sun rather unsuccessfully shone through my perpetually drawn blinds. A few weeks prior, looking out at the blue sky was almost a treat, something to break up the monotony of the day, but I was past that now. Time had lost all meaning. I could have been in that room for anywhere between five to three weeks, sleeping up to eighteen hours a day and spending the other six in a trance-like haze, staring up at the ceiling.
Introduction from Amanda Prowse as a mother
It is hard to write with honesty about depression, suicide and all the unpalatable truths that come with both, hard to find the positives and the hope, because it is a dark topic and one that we would rather not talk about, but we are going to try. Josh and I would like to tell you the story of what happened when mental illness came to live in our ordinary house with us, an ordinary family. I thought mental illness – frightening, hard to fathom, and even harder to accept – was something that happened to other people. Turns out we are other people.
About author Amanda Prowse
Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty-seven novels, two non-fiction books and nine short stories, have been published worldwide in dozens of languages. Her chart topping No.1 titles ‘What Have I Done?’, ‘Perfect Daughter’, ‘My Husband’s Wife’, ‘The Girl in the Corner’ and ‘The Things I Know’ have sold millions of copies around the world. In total, as at December 2022, Amanda has had thirty books published including the collection of seven novellas entitled ‘Something Quite Beautiful’. She has written several more manuscripts that have not yet been released across a different range of genres including Historical Fiction, Comedies, Thrillers and more Contemporary Dramas.https://www.instagram.com/mrsamandaprowse
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