Free (Kindle/Kobo UK) The Story of You [Literary/Women's Fiction Mental Health Novel]

[ATDrake]

The Story of You by Katy Regan is an ultimately light-hearted (blurbed newspaper reviews call it full of "warmth and humour") contemporary literary/women's fiction novel exploring interpersonal relationships with mental health issues, free courtesy of publisher HarperCollins.

This may be a bit chick-lit-ish in flavour, since Regan's bio-blurb mentions that she did a column for the Marie Claire fashion magazine and some of her other novels are more on the romantic comedy side of women's/litfic and there seemed to be a couple of chick-lit-type tropes in my skim of the opening chapters.

However, the customer reviews indicate that the general plot setup is literary in nature and the depiction of the mental health topics was treated with sensitivity and not trivialized.

Currently free @ Amazon UK, & Kobo (most likely only available to the UK). May eventually show up @ B&N UK and/or iTunes UK (linked for your price-drop check convenience), but frankly it's been a few days already and they haven't, even though HarperCollins UK is generally pretty good at putting their non-glitch freebies in at least 3 stores.

Unlikely to cross the pond, as this is a different edition from the North American one.

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because IMHO more attention needs to be paid to mental health issues, with greater understanding and acceptance and availability of treatment for those who need it, and less stigma and demonizing as ticking time bombs waiting to explode, or objects of jokes and mockery.

And if it happens in a maybe-chick-lit-ish light-hearted contemporary fiction novel aimed at a mainstream audience who may perhaps end up identifying and empathizing with some of the things the characters are going through and thereby help shift popular public opinion, then it's A Good Thing™.

Enjoy!

Description
Your past will always be part of you, but does it have to define your future? Or can you rewrite your story?

I want to explain it all to you. How this happened. How that summer – the summer I was 16 – made me the person I am today.

I want to share my memories with you: the happy memories are like sunbursts, sparkling on the sea. But then, like a current dragging me under, there's that summer of 1997.

The summer my life exploded.
The summer I had to grow up.
The summer you came into my life.

And so this is the story of you.

[ATDrake]

Surprisingly, finally dropped to free @ B&N UK and iTunes UK.