When your loved one commits suicide, life is irreversibly changed. This searingly honest book speaks of feelings of immense blame and shame, and the stigma surrounding suicide. It also evokes tender and thoughtful insights about why some people are more likely to take their own lives than others. It asks the pertinent question, 'how can we reach out and help those most likely to take their lives?'
Throughout her late teens and early adult life, with anorexia banished to the shadows, Anna found great success as a fashion designer, illustrator, graphite artist and poet. Her move to Paris at the age of thirty-two saw her welcomed into the bohemian art scene that paints Montmartre in vibrant colours.
Anna's mum, Rita, describes her daughter as one of the many babies born with a 'naked nerve'. Many believe these melancholy 'old souls' have 'been here before'. She explores the notion of babies who are born with a strong ambivalence to life and death being caught up in an impossible bind. She is certain this powerful dynamic creates anxiety, frustration, and fears that take an enormous amount of effort to conquer. Yet we must do more if we are to slash the horrendous numbers of suicide cases, and this timely and imaginative book is a must read for all generations.
