Playing with the pieces: Diversity, humanity and other accidents

In this debut collection, Nick Alldridge's sonnets and other poems argue passionately about our mental state, "How it can deform or be disgraced, tested past all limits and yet endure." Mental health - that jewel we possess without being fully aware of its worth until life steals it away and we experience mental illness. At some point, through bereavement, stress or other causes, most of us will lose our peace of mind, falling prey to "scenes unfolding out of memory, all in the dark and damp, at the tail end of the year." At first we may hide this from others for fear of being ridiculed, ostracized or losing our livelihood. It needn't be that way. Talking openly about feelings can ease them and allow family, friends and colleagues to show more understanding. Yet even knowing the value of openness, it takes courage to share. This beautiful collection from Nick Alldridge charts his struggle against depression, dealing sensitively with the ups and downs of his search for recovery, with the "things we could only say in the early hours of the morning." Combining subtlety and power, his work hangs onto hope in the face of despair and at times offers flashes of rueful humour. This is a book that will comfort anyone who has experienced mental problems themselves or in those they care about.