IMAGINE ME GONE by ADAM HASLETT (2016)

I long resisted reading this book because I had read that it is about a family dealing with the clinical depression of some of its members, and that hit a bit too close to home for me. When it was long listed for the National Book Award, I resisted. When it was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, I resisted. When it won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, I resisted. When it was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, I finally gave in.

I find that it is, indeed, an extraordinarily well done book, with an engrossing plot and well-drawn characters. I also find that it is, indeed, quite depressing.

As for the plot, when Margaret marries her fiance' John, she knows that he has just been hospitalized for a major depressive episode, but she marries him anyway. As the story develops, it becomes apparent that the eldest son, Michael, has inherited his father's mental illness. Through the decades, Margaret and the two younger children learn to deal with the fallout of their loved ones' actions.

Haslett is particularly adept at portraying the changing reactions of the healthy members of the family: deep caring, motivated by deep love; pity for the tragedy of the illness; anger at the seeming self-centeredness of the sufferers; and the conviction that they might hold the key to a "cure." Some even reach the desperation of distancing themselves for self-preservation. All find their lives altered and forever influenced by the illness of their loved ones. The author tells his story by writing each short chapter from the first-person viewpoint of one of the characters, allowing the reader to follow the stages of their journey.

The depressing aspect of the books comes from the helplessnss of the loving family to effectively alter the course of the disease. Even mental health professionals seem to be floundering, as they recommend one combination of drugs after another.

I can appreciate the talent involved in the writing of this novel, but I would certainly not read it again.