Zig-Zag Boy

‘By turns an eloquent meditation on the power of nature and a terrifying expose … [an] intense, readable journey … fresh with keenly observed details … What Zig-Zag Boy does best is put you inside the dark recesses of living with a mentally ill adult child, an experience that is on the rise … hopefully it will inspire the most important quality of all among providers, police officers and the public: empathy’Beth Macy, New York Times

‘A moving portrait of a mother’s love for her son. It is also a fiercely intelligent, humane and necessary contribution to mental health literature’Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall

‘At its heart a story about love; the lengths a mother will go to in a bid to understand her child … Rendered in prose that rings clear and true, Zig-Zag Boy announces an astonishing new voice’Ali Millar, author of The Last Days

‘Takes us to the heart of loving and parenting a child in the most intensive and often heartbreaking way. Marked by wonderful storytelling, a wry sense of humour and a determination to tell the truth no matter what, you will get lost in this story. And be the better for it’Emily Rapp, author of The Still Point of the Turning World

‘Starts by chronicling a mother’s nightmare as her promising son falls into psychosis, but ends up being far more than the story of what happens when we fear for the life of someone we love. A searing indictment of the medical industrial complex across continents’Gina Frangello, author of Blow Your House Down

‘A wonder. I loved this book and loved the family at the heart of it … This is a beautiful book’Mark Lukach, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward

‘In unforgettable imagery and nuanced prose, Tanya Frank gives us an incredible journey’Susan Straight

‘A beautiful, vibrant, powerful memoir about both holding tight and letting go’Gayle Brandeis

Tanya Frank recently moved back to her native England. Prior to her return home, she lived in California, where she worked as a docent at an elephant seal sanctuary. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian and numerous literary journals.