ON UNLIKE THE HEART: A MEMOIR OF BRAIN AND MIND
Helen Garner
‘A vital account of a struggle: resolute, intelligent and endlessly interesting.’
Siri Hustvedt
‘In Nicola Redhouse’s Unlike the Heart, theoretical questions of psyche and soma are not remote but urgent concerns, intimately bound to her own family’s story and the terrible anxiety she experienced after the births of her children. Intelligent, lucid and knowledgeable, the book itself may be said to embody the discipline of neuropsychoanalysis: It combines the narrative of a single patient with insights from the science of the brain.’
Ceridwen Dovey, ‘Best Books of 2019’, Australian Book Review
‘A wise, elegant book about so much more than mothering. Redhouse is unafraid to dive right into psychoanalytic theory and the complexities of neuroscience, weaving these bodies of knowledge into more personal reflections on the post-natal body, mind, and brain. ’
Louise Swinn, ‘Best Books of 2019’, The Australian
‘…a forensic and smart deep-dive into anxiety, psychoanalysis, genetics and family. The honesty of this incredibly humane memoir really illuminates the downright murky workings of the brain with such an intelligent touch. Redhouse is an incredibly fine and assured stylist too.’
Steven Amsterdam
‘Redhouse has corralled the ordinary and extraordinary madness of motherhood, the history of psychoanalysis, the efficacy of antidepressants, the future of neuroscience, and the complexities of her uniquely introspective family to create a kind of perfect memoir – one that enlarges the reader’s knowledge and leaves them with questions about their own existence.’
Lee Kofman
‘In this original, rigorous, poignant yet witty, and personally urgent work, Redhouse puts Freud and his disciples onto the couch – to scrutinise the art, and possibly science, of psychoanalysis, and, even more ambitiously, to find where brain ends and mind begins. This book is a feat of literary and intellectual fireworks.’
Books+Publishing (Anne Barnetson)
‘Scrupulous, tender and interesting, Unlike the Heart is a deeply felt meditation on how we live and feel.’
Readings Monthly (Elke Power)
In this extraordinary memoir, the reader is taken into the confidence of Nicola Redhouse: writer, editor, reader and, above all, someone who constantly seeks to better understand the human condition and her own unique mind. Unlike the Heart is an insightful account of mental health experiences in a family, particularly postnatal anxiety. It is also a profoundly personal reflection on navigating through competing frameworks – in particular psychoanalysis, psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience – for understanding these issues. The result is a sophisticated examination of the tensions between these sparring schools of thought and their theories, and the story of a quest for self-knowledge that makes for compulsive reading.
Redhouse brings an open mind, an appetite for research and an occasionally devastating turn of phrase to her endeavour…intense, rigorous and impossible to ignore once you begin it. Having already monopolised the attention of numerous Readings staffers, it shows every sign of becoming an influential book that will be discussed for years to come. It will resonate with readers who have experienced perinatal depression or anxiety, but it is also a must-read for anyone interested in the history and future of the study of the mind.’
The Saturday Paper (Kate Holden)
‘Composed, confident writing; elegantly synthesised research; an attractive portmanteau of motherhood memoir, account of mental illness, family secrets and an alert, yet vulnerable persona; candour and intimacy that many other mothers will respond to … The book gives us much, and is a gift to those interested in how we conceive and treat the distress seeping through our society like acetone…’
The Monthly (Sophie Quick)
‘Redhouse writes with eloquence on the limitations of science, and of conceiving of the brain as a purely material, in the treatment of mental illness. She raises some profound questions … Redhouse has a real gift for distilling complicated academic ideas and controversies across a dizzying range of disciplines. She has a gift, too, for describing the mysterious phenomena of the mind with both awe and lucidity …
In one sense, Unlike the Heart embodies the dynamic model of mind that Redhouse embraces. It contains material that can be empirically studied and verified, but it also comprises memories, books, theories, feelings, people and ghosts. The combination generates copious – and inevitably subjective – meaning. Unlike the Heart is … always remarkable.’
The Big Issue (Angela Elizabeth)
‘…an accomplished, deeply personal memoir … Redhouse is an articulate and insightful narrator of her own trauma … The book is a unique combination of memoir and theoretical analysis that engages intelligently with philosophy, neuroscience and literature.’
The Weekend Australian (Jane McCredie)
‘…skillfully weaving together the personal with her interrogation of the various scientific and therapeutic approaches …This intelligent book belongs in a growing genre that considers mental illness: accounts from authors with lived experience that go beyond pure memoir to place the relevant condition in a broader cultural or scientific context.’
Compulsive Reader (Magdalena Ball)
‘Redhouse is an exceptional science writer, and her research is extensive, making connections, incorporating anecdotes both personal and as part of her research, so that the overall effect is engaging, open-minded, informative and powerful. The hybrid effect allows for multiple perspectives that remain open-ended rather than didactic.’
Australasian Journal of Psychotherapy (Elisabeth Hanscombe)
‘So many elements flesh out the narrative beyond the academic …The great strength of this book lies in the questions it asks …beautiful writing…luminous… It offers hope to all those of us who struggle through early parenthood and beyond.’
Kate Forster (katebook blog)
‘a wonderful combination of candour, knowledge, healing and also love. … If you like smart books that delve into the ‘why’ of the human condition, then this is the next one to add to the pile on your bedside table. It is one of those books you will keep and mark and highlight, because it’s just so damn knowledgeable and yet readable.’
Australian Midwifery Magazine
‘….insightful, intelligent and remarkable in its ability to meld emotional and scholastic reflection … a truly worthwhile read.’