A Kind of Magic

A memoir about anxiety, our minds, and optimism in spite of it all
Where do mental illness stories begin?

Anna's always had too many feelings. Or not enough feelings – she's never been quite sure. Debilitating panic. Extraordinary melancholy. Paranoia. Ambivalence. Fear. Despair.

From anxious child to terrified parent, mental illness has been a constant. A harsh critic in the big moments – teenage pregnancy, divorce, a dream career, falling in love – and a companion in the small ones – getting to the supermarket, feeding all her cats, remembering which child is which.

But between therapists' rooms and emergency departments, there's been a feeling even harder to explain ... optimism.

In this sharp-eyed and illuminating memoir, award-winning writer Anna Spargo-Ryan pieces together the relationships between time, mental illness, and our brain as the keeper of our stories. Against the backdrop of...