Description

By Jennifer Syrkiewicz

ISBN: 9781849912181
Published: 2010
Pages: 224
Key Themes: fiction, bipolar affective disorder, depression, love, empowerment

Description

Albert Camus wrote that the only real question a human being has to ask of themselves is, should I live, or should I die? Before this question is answered, we are unable to progress with life, to seize the grass and the smiles and the sunlight, because we are still pondering.

Gardening in the Dark follows the path of Alex, as she stumbles towards making this decision. Interspersed with her story we meet Ally, a young girl whose childhood is entirely affected by the impact of her Mothers Bipolar.

Through Alex and Allys stories, we come to realise that the cyclical nature of the condition affects not just a single person, but entire generations. Despite this, Gardening in the Dark is ultimately a poignant and evocative novel about love, embracing life, and personal triumph over tragedy

About the Author

Jennifer Syrkiewicz has been writing all her life, drawing from a mixture of personal experience and imagination to inform her fiction.

Diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder, Jennifer wrote her first novel, Gardening in the Dark , to raise awareness of the condition and express how Bipolar affects the lives of both the person diagnosed, and those around them. Since writing the novel, Jennifer has set up a support group for the condition in her area.

Jennifer was born in 1976, in Yorkshire. Following a meandering trail across the UK to attend various universities, she is now happily settled in North Yorkshire with her husband Paul and two dogs. She runs a small Communications business and spends most of her time blogging, writing articles and producing fiction and poetry.