Looking for a book where female protagonist burns all relationships, neglects work and responsibilities like personal health, and essentially ends up ruining her life due to mental illness.
I can find similar books to this, but they all have happy endings. I don’t want a happy ending, I’m looking for something tragic or indifferent.
(Marked this NSFW due to sensitive topics)
by greenporchlight
18 Comments
My year of rest and relaxation sort of fits the bill. I don’t think I remember it having a happy ending, although it is funny throughout. It does explore mental illness through the protagonist neglecting life tho
Say no more. “A Dimmed Devotion” by Michael Andora. The artist that went missing had an underlying mental health issue that gets revealed incrementally through a police investigation.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh kinda fits this. I didn’t read one of her other books, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but I’ve heard it would fit your description to a degree.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is the classic for this.
‘Ten years to save the West’- Liz Truss
Try the Crank trilogy by Ellen Hopkins
The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Understated but beautiful writing. I thought it was weird while reading it, but afterwards it stayed with me, and it doesn’t seem weird anymore, just sad. No happy ending.
The yellow wallpaper
Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness by Catherine Cho
I can’t quite remember the ending of the book, but I don’t believe it’s particularly happy. That being said I don’t think it’s tragic either. She develops post partum psychosis and it’s pretty severe.
“Wasted” and “Madness” by Mayra Hornbacher. I think she writes so beautifully and honestly but the downside is I find her work very triggering. These books are memoirs of eating disorders and bipolar.
Two come to mind – Yellow by Janni Vismin, dept. of speculation by Jenny Offil (not exactly the elements but definitely the feeling?)
[Wild Sargasso Sea](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/s/HKETlY85pf).
“Wild” by Cheryl Strayed for the first half or so. The second half is what I believe to be just straight fabrication.
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca. It’s an unflinching and quite disturbing look into a toxic lesbian relationship that spirals wildly out of hand
Probably at least 50% of the books in r/weirdgirlliterature I’d guess.
Molly by Blake Butler
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson