The Memory of Light: An Authentic Glimpse into Mental Health

During this independent reading iteration, I am reading The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork.  The setting of the book opens in a mental hospital, where Vicky, a teenage girl from Texas, wakes up from a suicide attempt.  The main conflict of the book is Vicky's discovery of exactly what caused her to take her own life.  Additionally, she faces the harsh reaction of her family, who are unsympathetic and "don't understand."  Vicky meets friends in the mental hospital who help her on her pathway to recovery.

I think this book is very special in the sense that the author presents an honest portrayal of mental health.  Often, people look for answers to what causes depression; there is this notion that something tragic must happen for a person to come into this state, but that is not always the case.  In Vicky's case, her mom did die several years before, but her depression is not necessarily a direct outcome of that death.  There are a lot of things, things that Vicky has not directly faced, that have brought her to this place.  Not only this, but the author presents depression as an illness, much like cancer or diabetes, rather than a state of mind that we can control.  Most people would actually say that Vicky has a good life, which is important because it exemplifies the truth that depression can happen to anyone: rich, poor, smart, athletic, etc.  At this point in the text, Vicky is coping with what she did and the fear that she will do it again once she goes back to the high-pressure expectations of her life.  She fights to stay two weeks longer, something she feels she needs to do to completely overcome her suicidal ideations.

Until next time!

Ms. Parenti