The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer I was very honoured to be asked to read and review this by a friend and what a fabulous book. I love it when you start reading a book, especially a book by a new author and within the space of reading a page, you get THAT feeling, that this is going to be a book to remember. It's brilliant and mesmirising debut novel. I truly could not stop reading this and the end even gave cause for a tear or two. Matthew won my heart and my sympathy with his open and honest narration of his interpretation and understanding of events leading from the day of ‘the shock of the fall’. Matthew is 19 years old and this story is his story; of his pain, his guilt and his descent into an illness which has the “shape and sound of a snake”. It starts with the shock of the fall when Matthew was 9 and his big brother was 12, when something really terrible happened and nothing would ever be the same again. Snapshots of family life afterwards when Matthew’s mother was mad; the doctor; an orange anorak; school; friend Jake; moving out; work; an ant farm and always, always big brother Simon, calling Matt to play give the reader the bigger picture in a very telling and novel way because Matt’s account, disjointed as it might be, flicking between past and present, allows us to get to know Matt as he was and as he is and in itself explains a lot about Matt’s illness and how he thinks because of and in spite of it. He is an intelligent, caring, deeply empathetic and perceptive person who happens to have a mental illness. He is that way despite his illness because his illness is not who he is and as you read this book, that becomes more and more apparent. It’s a very moving and sincere account of mental health problems and how they affect not just the person diagnosed but the family, friends and those who work with the affected; it dispels the myths and stigmas that generally surround the mentally ill and gives hope and understanding. It’s a very human and humbling account of what it is like to be one of the mentally ill and no one can fail to be touched by Matt’s story.