Imagine Me Gone
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett is a poignant exploration of family dynamics and mental health, published by Little, Brown on May 3, 2016. This first edition spans 368 pages and is presented in English. The narrative centers on Margaret, who, after her fiancé John is hospitalized for depression in 1960s London, chooses to marry him despite the challenges ahead. The story unfolds through the perspectives of their three children, revealing the complexities of love, loyalty, and the impact of mental illness on family life.
Readers will find a deeply intimate portrayal of the struggles faced by Margaret and her children—Michael, Celia, and Alec—as they navigate the repercussions of John’s condition. The novel delves into themes of family life, coming of age, and the bonds that tie siblings together in the face of adversity. Through alternating viewpoints, Haslett crafts a narrative that balances humor with heartache, offering insights into the enduring effects of a father’s pain on his family. This edition invites readers to reflect on the lengths to which we go to support those we love.
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FINALIST for the PULITZER PRIZE
LONG-LISTED for the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
WINNER of the LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE
FINALIST for the NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
FINALIST for the KIRKUS PRIZE
LONG-LISTED for the ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL
TOP 10 NOVELS OF THE YEAR — TIME, Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, BBC, Newsday
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Barnes & Noble, BookPage, BuzzFeed, Elle, Financial Times, Huffington Post, Kirkus, NPR, Refinery29, Seattle Times, Shelf Awareness, WBUR’s On Point
“Haslett is one of the country’s most talented writers, equipped with a sixth sense for characterization” –Wall Street Journal
“Ambitious and stirring . . . With Imagine Me Gone, Haslett has reached another level.” –New York Times Book Review
From a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, a ferociously intimate story of a family facing the ultimate question: how far will we go to save the people we love the most?
When Margaret’s fiancé, John, is hospitalized for depression in 1960s London, she faces a choice: carry on with their plans despite what she now knows of his condition, or back away from the suffering it may bring her. She decides to marry him. Imagine Me Gone is the unforgettable story of what unfolds from this act of love and faith. At the heart of it is their eldest son, Michael, a brilliant, anxious music fanatic who makes sense of the world through parody. Over the span of decades, his younger siblings — the savvy and responsible Celia and the ambitious and tightly controlled Alec — struggle along with their mother to care for Michael’s increasingly troubled and precarious existence.
Told in alternating points of view by all five members of the family, this searing, gut-wrenching, and yet frequently hilarious novel brings alive with remarkable depth and poignancy the love of a mother for her children, the often inescapable devotion siblings feel toward one another, and the legacy of a father’s pain in the life of a family.
With his striking emotional precision and lively, inventive language, Adam Haslett has given us something rare: a novel with the power to change how we see the most important people in our lives.
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