Horatio Clare

An insightful and well written account of the author's period of psychosis, sectioning and recovery. I wanted to give this fewer stars because I don't warm to the author at all; in face at times I dislike him quite a lot (for infidelity mainly - something I have zero tolerance for) but I try to keep an open mind as a reader and remember how we are all different and deal with insecurities and traumas in different ways.

Horatio attributes his episodes of mania and his psychosis entirely to cannabis (skunk) use and he makes a very convincing argument for this. The last few chapters I found particularly interesting as he goes back to interview some of the people who treated him and other mental health professionals, to delve deeper into the mental health treatment pathways in the UK. Horatio is vociferously against the routine use of drugs for the treament of mental health problems, except at points of crisis; again, a viewpoint and arguments which I found interesting to read.

A seemingly honest and exposed account of the author's difficult experience; a highly recommended read.… (meer)

Horatio Clare writes across several genres but is perhaps best known for his travel writing. This memoir is his first book and also the first book of his I've read, and wow - what a talent.

Clare's parents were working for newspapers in London when they decided to buy a country bolt-hole to get away from the city at the weekends. Not one for doing things by half measures, his mother Jenny fell in love with a decrepit farm house high up in the Welsh mountains and their second jobs as part-time sheep farmers began. This is not farming for the faint-hearted; the elevation up to the house is so steep it can be impossible to get even deliveries of oil at times, the weather is severe in winter and all year round there are heavy, intensive jobs to do with the animals, from lambing to sheering and dipping and moving the flock around the mountain. It quickly becomes obvious to Clare's father that they have bitten off more than they can chew, yet Jenny falls in love with the mountain solitude and before long they have drifted apart and Jenny is left single-handedly raising their two boys whilst managing the farm.

Part memoir, part fictional dramatisation from his parents' diaries, this book was more than I expected. Clare writes with unflinching honesty about the highs and lows of their extraordinary setting, not just from his childhood memories but also with an adult perspective of his mother's steely determination to hold onto her life on the mountain. Whilst he pays homage the idyll of his wild, outdoorsy childhood he equally doesn't hold back from facing square on the utter madness of his mother's decision to stick it out despite the financial and physical hardships they faced. She's a wonderful character under Clare's penmanship - eccentric, funny, wilful and brave, and he recognises that really hers is the true story to be told.

A wonderfully written book, and highly recommended to those who enjoy books set in nature.

4 stars - I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.… (meer)