As I started to read this I kept hearing and seeing, in my mind's eye, the wonderful Jo Brand and remembering her tales of working as a psychiatric nurse ... a knowledge of the author that gave an extra dimension to the book for me, for here is an author writing with some knowledge of mental illness and the mental health system and its players.This is not, to me, a wildly comedic tale (despite the reference to hilarious on the book's cover), though there is comedy, but there is more, there is a real warmth and knowing in this book that goes much deeper than comedy.All of the characters in the book, whether central or secondary players, are drawn with a warmth that takes them beyond stereotype - except perhaps the idol of both daughter and, later, mother, Morrissey (yes he of the Smiths fame - a nod to 1980s culture that brought a smile to my face as I remember my own "discovery" of his music). It is appropriate though, that Morrissey remains distant, he is the enigma that both daughter and mother, declare is speaking to just them ... he is the idol on which all, to the bemusement of friends and family, hopes are pinned ...In many ways this is a coming of age tale: a coming of age for daughter Alice and her friends; a coming of age of sorts for her mentally ill mother, Gina, as she finds a new beginning; and, a coming of age for her gentle but exhausted father, Keith, as he too finds a new beginning ... a coming of age which is celebrated in an ending which is both highly improbable and yet probable given the characters Jo Brand has created. I didn't find myself laughing out loud whilst reading "The More You Ignore Me", rather I found myself smiling often and nodding with recognition as I turned the pages. Jo Brand is a opinionated, hilarious take-me-as-I-am-or-go-to-hell British comedienne who I admire, so I picked up this book with no expectations. Certainly not with the knowledge that she used to be a psychiatric nurse. This charming fiction is packed with her insight on schizophrenia, how the community responds to it and its impact on every member of the extended family. Brand is known to be a very humourous author, and while the topic is too frazzling to be sustainably funny, I did smile frequently at the characters' humanity. The daughter, finding her only meaning in life through Morrisey songs, decides that her mom should be off her medication. The husband stoically stays by his ill wife until life changes. Meanwhile, other layers of life go on. SPOILER: I love, love, love the fact that Brand gives this a happy ending. It's bit contrived, but thank God that Brand presents that the death of the ill wife, a la Bronte's Jane Eyre, is not the only possible outcome for a mentally ill spouse. And the final sentence of the book made my heart lurch.
What do You think about The More You Ignore Me (2010)?
a little hard to get into but a very interesting book. emotional rollercoaster - you laugh and cry!
—wadyoh
not bad, alright entertaining enough but could of been better
—Jen
