I Missed the Spring

Author: Kaila Shabat
Amazon paperback $10; Kindle $5
This book can be bought directly from Kaila Shabat
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Reviewed by Pnina Moed Kass

One cannot deny the courage of writers who pen memoirs revealing to readers the sources and stages of their mental illness. Through their own stories their purpose is not only to banish misconceptions, myths and stigmas but to highlight their time of social isolation. I was particularly moved by the beautifully written opening chapters which deserve commendation. One cannot discount the harsh realities that Rubin describes, and the fact that the author makes no attempt to beautify mental illness from a first-person perspective. Memoirs about mental illness stand alone as a category of literature. In Katherine Rubin's memoir there is also the element of her attachment to Israel. She delves into how it affected her illness yet empowered her. This is subjective literature, rendered in a highly emotional and personal manner. There is tragedy and there is victory, there is self-destruction and there is reconstruction. A fascinating narrative.