Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett

What would you do for love?

Would you sacrifice your chance at happiness for the dimmest glimmer of hope of saving your loved ones?

Love is a twisted concept. It challenges your rationality and questions your morality. It is hard to love somebody, to cut yourself open and allow them to see you in your most vulnerable state, but it is even more excruciating to witness your loved ones suffer in anguish. What would you do? How much can you save someone before letting them save themselves? Would it be selfish to express your frustration at their failure to be better and your own failure at helping them? Those questions kept circling my mind like vultures as I trudged through this novel. Imagine Me Gone is an exquisite hymn to love and resilience. Adam Haslett portrays his characters with such details that you can almost feel the characters’ breath through each page. Although the novel revolves around mental health, the author manages to squeeze in some witty details that would surely take you by surprise (Michael’s sardonic sense of humour pleasantly amused me). Overall, if you want to explore the concept of mental health from different perspectives, I would highly recommend this book. However, I do not endorse reading this book in public unless you want to become a sobbing mess in front of strangers.