Stephanie Merritt was born in 1974 and read English at Queens' College Cambridge. She was Deputy Literary Editor of the Observer and is now a feature writer for the Observer and the Guardian. She has contributed to a number of newspapers and magazines and appeared as a critic and panellist on BBC programmes such as Newsnight Review and Quote Unquote. From 2007-2008 she produced and presented the Talks and Debates programme at Soho Theatre. She is the author of two novels - Gaveston, which won a Betty Trask Award in 2002, and Real, which she adapted as a screenplay for Plurabelle Films. She is currently writing a series of historical thrillers.
This powerful memoir will speak to anyone who has suffered bipolar disorder or depression * Observer * Merritt's attempts at self analysis are bravely honest and provocative...This is a brave and eloquent book * Telegraph * With a skilled touch, Merritt subtly unravels depression's 'knot of contradictions', blending informative research with an insightful personal account ... [she] has found an eloquent voice with which to shed light onto dark matters * Independent on Sunday * A moving and powerful account of possibly the most hideous emotional problem - bipolar disorder * Oliver James * A balanced and brave view of a struggle for sanity...Merritt is an elegant, stoical and informative observer of her own predicament, with an admirable line in grim comedy * Evening Standard *