Working my way through the 2022 Women's Prize shortlist, I spent a wonderful day reading Meg Mason's novel Sorrow and Bliss (2020).
With her sister Ingrid, Martha grew up in an eccentric family of creatives. Her mother repurposes found objects into sculpture while her father is a poet who has never been able to capitalise on his early success. Their mother is mercurial and her volatile personality keeps her family at a distance. Likewise, Martha has suffered from a debilitating depression since childhood. She has regular crashes into a darkness which take a long time to recover from. This unnamed mental illness also impacts Martha's feelings about motherhood and causes her to sabotage the good things in her life.
This is a character-driven story about grappling with mental illness and how it impacts families and friends. Despite the subject matter, I found this novel to be intelligent, witty and in parts laugh-out-loud funny. An unreliable narrator, Martha's first person account is razor-sharp, as she shares her dark thoughts, the mundane aspects of life and clever asides.
I especially loved the relationship between the two sisters - the way they communicate in emojis, help each other at their worst moments, and have an unspoken shared history. Mason also depicts the broader family with clarity and empathy, with wonderful characters like Aunt Winsome, Martha's parents, the cousins, and the devoted Patrick.
New Zealander Meg Mason is the author of Say it Again in a Nice Voice and You Be Mother. She now lives in Sydney.