In our love, however little, we create a web that breaks a person's fall.
"Susie, my life has been a complete and total waste of time."
In 2012 when Stephen said this, he believed it to be true. But was it? And how do we decide?
From the outside, it may have looked like this. Stephen spent 25 years inside British psychiatric wards, was finally diagnosed with autism in his late forties and never felt acceptable in the ‘normal’ world.
From the inside, though, here was a man with powerful convictions, deep longings, wide interests and an incapacity to be anything other than himself, whatever the cost.
This is his story, inside and out; a story of grave injustices, saints and bigots, a faithful dog, a wild woman, a fairy godmother and angels hidden in plain sight.
It is also the story of the author, Susie, who started off by wanting to 'help' Stephen 'get better', and instead found herself profoundly challenged by a friendship she did not expect.
Idiosyncratic, unorthodox, tragic, yet at times hilarious this book not only tells a compelling and important story but will be vital reading for anyone who cares about mental health in our contemporary world or who might just be open to a different way of seeing: from the inside out.
Stephen From The Inside Out by Susie Stead was published on 9 April 2021 by Impress Books.
As part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour I have one copy to give away today.
Entry is simple, just fill out the competition widget on this blog post. UK entries only
GOOD LUCK!
PRAISE FOR STEPHEN FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Susie Stead's book is funny, kind and a thoroughly good read. It takes us on the rewarding but bumpy journey of getting to know an original, but genuinely difficult, person and on the way reveals more than a little about the author – and the rest of us.
Kate Clanchy, MBE for services to literature and winner of the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Writing
.. funny, sad, inspiring and deeply moving. Although I knew, from the beginning, that this is not a book that would have a Hollywood ending, Susie brought me into Stephen's world and revealed his humour, his humanity and his genuine poetic talent. As I read the book I got to know Stephen from the Inside Out, and the more I read the more I liked him. This is fitting tribute to a remarkable man.
Michael Mosley - television presenter, journalist and author
I cried at the end, and there were many very powerful, moving, stirring and sometimes shocking moments along the way. I rate this book highly.
Matthew Baylis - novelist, screenwriter and journalist
One copy of Stephen From The Inside Out by Susie Stead
experience writing and producing drama and short films, including collaborations with people with lived experience of mental illness.
She is also a freelance accredited mindfulness teacher.
Stephen from the Inside Out is her first book.
Twitter @Sooz_Stead
a small but passionate team, dedicated to their authors, producing beautiful books and high calibre writing.
Website: https://www.impress-books.co.uk/
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