THE BOY BETWEEN by Amanda Prowse and Josiah Hartley – @BoTBSPublicity @booksnall2020

Firstly, thank you to the authors’ and Sarah at BoTBS Publicity for the opportunity to read this book. THE BOY BETWEEN is the story of how depression impacts a family. It is an eye opening read.

THE BOY BETWEEN

Format – Kindle
Publisher – Little A
Publication Date – 1st November
Genre – Non Fiction
Author – Amanda Prowse & Josiah Hartley

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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, bestselling 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

This is non-fiction a true story about a family struggling with Mental Health at a time when it still had a stigma attached.  It still does today but at the time of this story it was much worse.  Despite the progress some of the standard reactions to it still exist.

I am no stranger to mental health my mother had a complete nervous breakdown when I was 16 I remember that time, those days as though it was yesterday and yes every one of my siblings and myself have suffered depression at some level.  Even so reading this book was very eye-opening.  Tragic to think that at a different time this story would have had a very different ending.

The effect on family members of someone with depression is all encompassing and that came accross brilliantly in this story.

Told from Amanda and Josh’s point of view the reader has a fly on the wall view of how depression affects not only the sufferer but also the parents, siblings.  Any parents worse nightmare is for a child to have an illness they cant make better and that inability to ‘fix’ their child is something that eats away slowly and surely wearing the person down.  Again this is something that came accross brilliantly.

I breathed a sigh of relief when at last there was a very small light at the end of the very long tunnel.

A heartbreaking story but one I am so very pleased to have read.  Thank you so much to Sarah at Book on the Bright Side Publicity and the author for inviting me on the tour.


Author Bio’s

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda

Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty five novels and seven novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres.  Her books, including the 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 across the globe.

A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5’s ‘The Jeremy Vine Show’ and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, ‘A Mother’s Story’ won the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the year Award while ‘Perfect Daughter’ was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016.

Amanda’s ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades…

Praise for Amanda Prowse:

‘A powerful and emotional work of fiction’ – Piers Morgan

‘Deeply moving and emotional, Amanda Prowse handles her explosive subjects with delicate skill’ – Daily Mail

‘Uplifting and positive, but you will still need a box of tissues’ – Hello!

‘A gut-wrenching and absolutely brilliant read’ – The Irish Sun

‘You’ll fall in love with this…’ – Cosmopolitan

‘Deeply moving and eye opening. Powerful and emotional drama that packs a real punch.’ – Heat

‘Magical’ – Now magazine

Josh: 

A keen environmentalist and animal lover, Josiah (Josh) Hartley lives in a remote farmhouse in the West Country with his two idle and arrogant French Bulldogs, Dottie and Beau. Happiest following the music scene in Bristol, at a festival or watching rugby with his mates, Josh enjoys the outdoor life and often heads to the sea to surf and sit on the beach watching the sun go down.

After a stint at the University of Southampton, another at the University of Bristol and one planned suicide, Josh decided to write about his descent into mental illness and the depression that held him in its grip for the past few years. The Boy Between carries the overriding message that things can and often do get better. It is a book of reflection, raw, honest and full of hope – the proof being that Josh is still here and excited about what comes next. He’s ready to catch any opportunity that life throws his way; quite a thing for someone who only a few years ago was living in a world gone grey, ready to disappear from the face of the earth…

 

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