Hi everyone, im needing a list of book recomnedations for a charity, that specialises in councelling services, we have a project in mind, which i cant go into detail here yet. But it involves books, and some depitons of characters or situations of distressing nature, such as , drug abuse, rape, mental health problems, such as depression, suicide idolisation. Some books ive already read that fits into what im looking for are.
Memphis, by tara M. Stringfellow
A Sorceress comes to call by T. Kingfisher – Currently stil reading btw but the coersive controll that the mother has on her daughter is something were also looking for in these book sugestions.
While one of these books have depictions of things like rape, its the after part that were looking for, how does the chracter deal with these distresing situations.
On a final note, it doesnt have to be anything major, could be a minor sub plot or a converstation that happens and talks about a characters past, as long as you have read it and felt a connection or felt that the book did justice to those real people that have gone through the same things.
As always thanks in advance for any and all comments and engagements with this post.
by The_Under_Lord2546
14 Comments
Not completely in depth, but themanga Xxxholic has realistic insights.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath has gotta be one of the definitive answers to this request.
I also think The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood would be a great fit, lots of talk about their past in that story.
Stormlight archive
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson is generally considered to have some of the best depictions of mental illnesses in fantasy literature. It has characters that struggle with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, PTSD, DID, etc
The sword of truth series
Do diaries count?
Girl Interrupted
Girl, Interrupted
I Am The Cheese
The Virgin Suicides, maybe?
A Little Life, maybe? (haven’t finished this one)
Disclaimer: I am by no means a professional mental health person
Edit: I also don’t know if any of these actually have “solutions” to a mental health issue and your post does imply that you want that.
The Illustrated Mum – Jacqueline Wilson. It is a children’s book and written from a child’s perspective but it fits the brief
I thought Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura really accurately captured just how anxious I felt constantly as a young adult in and out of school.
The Shining🤷😂
The metamorphosis by franz kafka
Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground (really, anything by Dostoevsky)
Lore Olympus! It’s a graphic novel about the Greek gods and deals with rape and the after effects really well.