Blog #78; A New Family Saga from Chris McClelland on Vella

The story of an American family, and its founder and patriarch, James R. We follow James and his fellow Irish immigrants from the blight torn hills of the Emerald Isle to the land of promise, the United States of America. There, James and his compatriots find the land of milk and honey often sour and bitter as well as sweet. Still, James pours blood, sweat and viscera into the building of his new nation, constructing the Erie Canal, and later fighting on the killing fields of Gettysburg.

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Blog #77; Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "Yellow Wall-Paper" and Adam Hazlett's "Notes for My Biographer": A Comparison of Bipolar Themed Short Fiction

 I have just been looking back at Adam Hazlett's first collection of short stories, and in particular the first piece, "Notes for My Biographer", and I was struck by how accurate the depiction was to the experience of bipolar, the rapid, pressured mania, the cycles, the family history and drama.  And we can compare this to Gilman's story, and how both are such excellent depictions of the altered mental states of those who suffer with mental illness as well as how mental illness was treated over 100 years ago in women and how the contemporary elderly are treated.  I would be curious if any of you out there have found other fiction that seems to tackle these issues?