Book Tour – The Boy Between by Amanda Prowse and Josiah Hartley

Book Details

Book Title: The Boy Between – A Mother and Son’s Journey from a World Gone Grey by Amanda Prowse and Josiah Hartley
Category:  Adult Non-Fiction (18+), 286 pages
Genre:  Author Memoir, Family
Publisher:  Little A
Release date:  November 2020
Content Rating: R

1. Infrequent use of F word in context (estimated 10 times in book)
2. Mildly questions religious faith during a testing time
3. References to thoughts about suicide (not graphic)

My Thoughts

Even if you rarely pick up a non-fiction book, you might want to consider this powerful account of what used to be a taboo subject: depression. I’d like to think in today’s world mental illness is a topic people can share and not be ashamed of. And I believe our advancement toward knowledge, rather than fear and misunderstanding is promoting this effort. Within the pages of The Boy Between, two authors are doing their part by stepped forward and sharing their personal experiences.

Each chapter is told from Amanda or Josh’s perspective. And to me, that is one of the things that helps bring light to the subject. As a Mom, I know it hurts to see a child suffering. Amanda wasn’t given a manual at the birth of her child. (Don’t we wish that was a mandatory thing to accompany childbirth?) She, like all mothers, was just doing her best to help her son. But each child responds differently and she was coping and supporting her son the best she could. Many times correctly, and other times not-so-much. But like they say, hindsight is 20/20. I’m sure she would admit that she has learned many lessons from past experiences. Lessons that she was willing to share with her readers.

And to read Josh’s details of what he was experiencing also enlightens us. It is immediately obvious that his emotions run much deeper than the occasional “down” feeling many of us occasionally experience. I can’t begin to understand the depth of his anxiety and feelings of despair. But with his willingness to share, it has helped.

If you read this and think, But this doesn’t apply to me, or anyone I know, trust me, there is still something in this book for you. When these authors decided to share a bit of what was going on in their family, people like you and me, who meant well, couldn’t have responded much worse. This section definitely stood out. Since Amanda realized that people were only trying to comfort and support her, she tried to understand. But we need to be taught what words help and what don’t. So thank you Amanda for not omitting this part. We all want to help and support others, but it is important to help in the right way.

This shared memoir can aid you in recognizing signs of depression. It also offers some tools to help families know what might be helpful. And at least in Josh’s life, what wasn’t helpful at all.

My thanks to both Mother and Son for taking the time to share and enlighten us on this debilitating illness. 

My thanks to iReadBookTours and the author for a copy of this book. My review and rating are only my opinions, of which I was free to post.

4 STARS

Meet the Authors

Plus

Author Interview

With Amanda Prowse

Josiah (Josh) Hartley is the son of Amanda Prowse who has co-authored with his mother to tell the story of his journey through life so far. Born in the England, Josh was fortunate enough to attend one of the country’s elite public schools from an early age and was awarded a place at one of the UK’s top Universities where he planned to work towards a medical doctorate. But just at the moment when he should have been having the time of his life, he started feeling nagging tugs of self-doubt which spiraled into a depression during which time he planned his suicide. Luckily, his family intervened and after a roller coaster couple of years, he is alive and well and sharing his story to help other families who find themselves in the same position navigate their way through those difficult times.

Author Interview

1. After writing 25 fiction novels what made you switch to writing fiction? And how easy it was it to make the switch?

            I didn’t consciously choose to start writing fiction, in fact it kind of happened by accident! I emailed my son Josiah who suffers with depression, as I was out of answers, asking him how I could best help him and to my surprise he responded in a way that was valuable and informative. So I asked another question and it went from there. Before we knew it we had a couple of chapters of valuable insight that my editor suggested might be a book. Writing non-fiction was hugely different and in ways I had not foreseen. The weight of responsibility to do the subject of mental health justice was huge. But also, unlike in my fiction, where I get to craft the most pleasing and often neat endings, there was no opportunity to do that. It meant the whole experience was raw and far more emotionally draining than I had anticipated. I think that pain though has made the book the very best it could be.

2. Was there a chapter that was more difficult to write than others?

            The chapter where Josiah writes about the day he planned to end his life was harrowing for us both. It was hard for me to hear the desperate detail. It’s fair to say we didn’t hold back, knowing that no matter how raw, we needed to be open in order to make the book the very best it could be. Ultimately it has helped me understand the debilitating nature of depression in ways I didn’t before, and if anything has made me even more determined to do my utmost to keep him here. Because at the end of the day, we might be co-authors, colleagues, peers…  but first and foremost Josh is my son, my heart and the thought of living on a planet without him on it is something I can’t begin to think about.

3. Will there be a sequel from you and Josiah?

            From Josh certainly, he is already working on his second book and I too am writing more non-fiction but not solely focusing on my son’s depression. His writing has become his therapy in a way and he talks about mental illness in such a frank and relatable way, I think it will do nothing but good.

4. How did your wider family respond to having such a personal life event put to print?

            It wasn’t easy for any of us to be reminded of such dark times and of Josiah’s struggle, but it has really opened up the conversation in our house about what we have all been through and how we can best support Joshy. That’s the thing about depression, when it comes to live in your house, it lives in every corner of every room and it covers you all with its net. And this book is helping us all learn and grow.

5. I read that Josh is dyslexic, this must have been a big challenge when writing The Boy Between?

           Josiah said he thought his dyslexia was going to be the biggest challenge when writing his first book, turns out it was actually spending eight hours a day with me that was most problematic! We struggled at first to find a way to work together, but learned that the best way in the early stages was for Joshy to dictate to me his words and I would then send him the copy to re-write and edit. He has overcome so much in writing this book and I could not be prouder.

6. Which do you prefer writing fiction or non-fiction?

            “The Boy Between” is definitely the book I am proudest of, my first work of non-fiction, but also the book I hoped I would never have to write. I wish my son Josiah, did not, like so many young men, suffer with a debilitating depression that lead to him to try and take his own life while a student at university. Even writing those words feels alien and jarring. I found the whole process draining and exhausting as well as extremely rewarding. Fiction is my escape and it comes with less emotional burden, so I guess the answer is..  I like writing both!

**Enter the Giveaway**