Patrick Gale, by Notes from an exhibition

I loved that my favourite subject, Art, is explored as a recurring theme in this book to enlighten the way/the reason/the justification for some of the chararcters' behaviours/views of the world. Its also about relationships and illness and religion. So many big themes! The main theme though is Motherhood, and that touches us all, universally. Required reading? Definitely.

This book touched me in a way i hadn't been touched by a work of fiction in a long long time. I don't know what was more moving- the sensitive and incredibly tender description of a loving and supportive marriage; the siblings affection and support for one another; the intelligent and thoughtful treatment of the mental disease; the life-affirming properties of art...

Despite the "heavy" material this is an extraordinarily uplifting read, all the characters are drawn perfectly and you truly care for all of them. it is also incredibly gripping, with layer after layer of plot being added as the chapters progress.

in short, a great book!

Lovely book at times a bit trite, with the bi polar mum, bi polar daughter and loads of men picking up the pieces.

The quaker stuff was very interesting and gave a good structure.

I loved this - particularly that all the characters were so vivid. The out of sequence way of writing keeps you guessing all the way through. I read in the notes in the book that the author had lost a brother in an accident and agonised over how to deal with this in the story - and did a fantastic job.

Amazing book, very well written about how a family copes with mother with bi-polar disorder. Beautifully and sensitively written.

I read this for my book group and wouldn't have chosen it myself just reading the reviews. It's about "bi-polar" so what seems a "heavy" subject but it's about the effect it has on all the members of a family. It's sad but funny, emotionally involving and affecting. It's really well written and the characters are fascinating - you really want to understand more about why they are the way they are.