Questions About Another Life Altogether

by Elaine Beale (Goodreads Author)

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From the description ("love her mother IN SPITE OF her TERRIFYING mental illness") I'm really nervous that this is going to be a book which presents people with mental illness as scary, or evil, or incapable of caring for themselves, or something like that. The wording of that really irritates me, so can anyone who has read the book let me know whether it does that?

Chelsea We view the character's mental illness through the lens of her 13 year old daughter's perception. For her (the daughter), it is terrifying. Her father…moreWe view the character's mental illness through the lens of her 13 year old daughter's perception. For her (the daughter), it is terrifying. Her father, aunt, and other adults in the story do not react with fear to the mother's illness, although they are totally incapable of dealing with it. The book also takes place sometime around the 1970s, when mental illness was even less understood than it is today. If inaccurate/unrepresentative portrayals of the mentally ill are a deal breaker for you, you might want to skip this one.(less)

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