There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

When Lisa Appignanesi’s husband dies in 2015, she is overcome with grief. While a perfectly normal response, Appignanesi finds herself dealing or, perhaps more accurately, not dealing with the myriad of emotions that accompany grief.

Everyday Madness is compelling in parts, disjointed in others, but well written throughout.

This is not an easy read. It is an honest book, sometimes a brutally honest book about the aftermath of the death of a partner. Ms Appignanesi writes about the death of her husband and how she coped - and didn't cope - in the weeks, months after his death. There is a comment where she hopes her children will forgive her honesty and there is indeed a lot of soul searching in this book, but it will be recognisable to anyone who has lost some one dear to them. The way that the grief feels and how you struggle to do the most mundane things are well described. The author has done a service to anyone who needs to know that what they feel in such a situation is "normal" - whatever "normal" is... and although everyone's pain will be different, Ms Appignanesi - as a knowledgable writer having written Mad, Bad and Sad - shows enough universality that this will be of value to many. It might not suit everyone but there is much here that will be valuable.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

You will find all of life in this- is quoted on the front cover, and it couldn’t be more apt. The author narrates in depth how she dealt with the raw and unabating grief after the loss of her husband. Part memoir part study of life. A fascinating read.

A messy book. Part grief memoir, part psychoanalysis, what should have been an emotive text instead left me cold.

This is a memoir of parts of Lisa Appignanesi life- mainly 3 sections of it.
I wanted to really get into this book however honestly I did struggle.
The first part of the novel I manage to read yet once I started the second part of the book j found it wasn't that easy to follow and this is where I struggled.
Sadly I could not get on with it and therefore due to that reason I was unable to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This book is brave and very well written, but I struggled with it somewhat. At times is is quite academic, and essay-like, at others deeply personal and raw. I think it's something that many readers will get a lot of value from, but it wasn't quite what I had expected.

Lisa Appignanesi explores her own experience of grieving after the death of her husband. As well as the wider sociological perspectives.

Afraid this book was not for me.

I found the first "Grieving" section a compelling read, where the author lays out rawly her experiences post her husband's death. However, pushing on through the book I found it fighting to be either a personal memoir or an essay - the two did not combine as well as they had done in the first section, and I found I was struggling.

Evocative and powerful .. the author writes of her grief over time, and the 'ordinary' craziness we engage in at times when we are shaken to our boots by hard, personal bash: in this case, death of her husband and it's good that it shows full panoply of emotions .. anger, humor etc at various instances of memory, and at friends. Strangely, I read this just after St Aubyn's novel semi-autobiographical series, and her sanity is commendable and, actually helpful. It's string thigh, and I often got choked up... so I've been debating pointing it out to others who have lost a close friend/lover. It might cause more upset. Her focus is on crazy things we might do .. adjusting to Freud and philosophies discussions ... in the end, the prison to some kind of consolation emerges. Really beautiful.. thank you Lisa, if you see this.

I think that this book would make a very interesting addition to the Reading Agency's Books on Prescription scheme. It is a wonderful book exploring the first year of grief after losing a spouse.
It is all told from the view point of the survivor and isn't about the last few years/months of a person's life but is about coming to terms with the fact that the end isn't always peaceful and that there are lots of ends not neatly tied up. There is also the anger and confusion of bereavement which Appignanesi discusses honestly and openly.
There are lots of literary and psychiatry references in the book and it is nice to see a higher level book on this topic.

This book has given me a deep understanding of how other people experience grief but that is so dissimilar to my own.

From not being able to throw out a shampoo bottle to breaking down in front of a room of relative strangers but not being able to be open up with your own family. The honesty that time makes it easy but to get there you need to go through feeling nothing to feeling everything and to feeling normal (at times again).

This book is incredibly well written and so poignant Appignanesi bears her soul open to the world and invites you into her life at one of its worst moments. A true and honest insight into the life of someone who has experienced profound loss.