This is a powerful memoir which approaches grief and suicide with a tender and emotional heart. Beautifully written, this will affect you long after the last page.

I think that the students in our school library need to hear lots of diverse voices and read stories and lives of many different kinds of people and experiences. When I inherited the library it was an incredibly sanitised space with only 'school readers' and project books on 'the railways' etc. Buying in books that will appeal to the whole range of our readers with diverse voices, eclectic and fascinating subject matter, and topics that will intrigue and fascinate them was incredibly important to me.
This is a book that I think our senior readers will enjoy very much indeed - not just because it's well written with an arresting voice that will really keep them reading and about a fascinating topic - but it's also a book that doesn't feel worthy or improving, it doesn't scream 'school library and treats them like young reading adults who have the right to explore a range of modern diverse reads that will grip and intrigue them and ensure that reading isn't something that they are just forced to do for their English project - this was a solid ten out of ten for me and I'm hoping that our students are as gripped and caught up in it as I was. It was one that I stayed up far too late reading and one that I'll be recommending to the staff as well as our senior students - thank you so much for the chance to read and review; I really loved it and can't wait to discuss it wth some of our seniors once they've read it too!

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. It may be one for other readers, but I was unable to finish it.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. I really struggled to get into it and struggled with the format.

When I Had a Little Sister by Catherine Simpson is a memoir about mental illness, suicide, loss of a sibling.

A poignant and to me, totally recognisable book about growing up in a rural area during the seventies.
Catherine is the middle sister of three living with a father, typical of the parent with a hands-off attitude of fathers of the time, a mother whose lack of communication also typifies a certain type of woman back then, and two sisters.
Although I didn't grow up in the countryside but on the outskirts of a (not huge) city the way that her parents acted brought back so many memories of my childhood. Don't talk about death, whispered conversation about a relative who died of cancer, not because it would upset a child but because 'that sort of thing isn't to be spoken about, it's not *nice."' Mental illness was completely off the radar and didn't affect "families like ours.'
Catherine's younger sister, Tricia grew up the beloved baby to her older sisters, cherished by the girls and treated like a lovely, living plaything. When she hit pre- puberty something happens to Tricia, something invisible, something inside, turning her from a biddable child into a moody, volitile, one. How I recognised this in my own life! It's as if a switch is turned on in the brain and life starts to be a series of confrontations, anger and angst. Catherine, herself, suffers from depression throughout her life, getting counseling and the usual medical interventions.
After her parents move into a newly built bungalow on the lane leading to the family farm Tricia lives in the farmhouse alone looking after her beloved horses and becomes increasingly paranoiac. Despite the best of help on the part of her family she is let down big-time by a failing mental health system with devastating consequences.
I was sent a pre publication copy of this book, thanks to Netgalley and devoured it in a few days. A must read for anyone who lived as a teen in either the seventies or late sixties who will be familiar with the attitudes towards talking about, or dealing with, "problems' and the repression of the time.
Thank you, Catherine Simpson, for your honesty in telling us what is a personal and painful story of your family's life. I hope that in the future you find the solace you truly deserve.

A very personal journey of discovery:
This is a powerful, soul-searching novel of familial discovery. After a lifetime of depression, Catherine's young sister takes her life aged only 46. As Catherine reads her sister's voluminous diaries she learns of the differences the sisters had in the perception of their lives as they grew up together. How childhood experiences can be perceived so differently. Not an uplifting novel, nor one which will be to every reader's taste: this is a story which explores mental illness and the misery it can cause the sufferer. The book is set in a period before depression and other common mental illnesses were fully accepted and understood by the wider population and more openly discussed. Well-written and highly personal, this is a story which I think many readers will be able to empathise with and/or learn from. A very personal tale of one sister coming to terms with the worldly outlook of her sibling.

This book deals with a difficult subject. I think the author does a good job of displaying what is felt by the people we leave behind. Weaving the story between the past and future we get a full picture of life before and after. The reader can relate to the level of how things are communicated and dealt with even if they haven't experienced the same things.

Beautifully written, a heart breaking account of the suicide of the author’s sister.
Anyone who has lost someone they love will identify with this poignant book,
Highly recommended

I’m sorry but I did not finish this book as I felt it was rather laboured and was perhaps written more for the author’s cathartic benefit than for the general public. However I think it is a brave piece of writing as the author never felt tempted to paint herself in a more favourable light, which must have been difficult. Mental health and suicide are never easy subjects and possibly this was a contributing factor in my giving up. Sorry just not my cup of tea.

I found this book hard to read in places and the author has been really brave publishing it. A raw and painful account of how depression can affect a family. It is honest, interesting and sad. It gives those of us who have lead charmed lives a small insight to those families that have had terrible struggles

This is a story of suicide and of love. It is heartbreaking, it is honest and it is full of love for family and a way of life. Catherine Simpson looks at the life of her sister before suicide but this isn't a "misery memoir" this is almost thanks for how long Tricia was alive and surviving with mental illness. Looking through her sister's diaries, Catherine sees their life through a different lens. and then this books helps her reflect on it.

Although this is about suicide, mental illness and family difficulties, it is actually about universal themes and many people would benefit from reading it and thinking how they relate to their own families.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Heartbreaking. How do you cope with the knowledge that your sibling has taken their own life?

The author has shared with us a story of family love. Memories and diaries written by her sister, which must have been so hard to read, have enabled her to share her story with us. How painful it must have been to feel helpless to change or halt the decline into mental ill health of her sister. The book is so well written, I could feel the despair of helplessness and love. It was tangible. A privilege for us to share her story.

Mental ill health/depression is invisible but has such a devastating effect that it is good if stories like this can be shared. The author has allowed us to share in her personal story and I would highly recommend that this book be read by anyone touched with mental ill health of someone they love.

Such a beautiful, moving memoir- the family traits reminded me so much of my own family- the not talking, the shutting down. So much left unsaid and unanswered. We also have had a close family member commit suicide which is also rarely ever spoken about. This book really hit my heart and has stayed there. I hope the writer has come to peace with her sisters death.

Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
I could not get into the flow of this story unfortunately and I have abandoned it at 30% I was struggling as the story jumps around a lot and is hard to follow. Mental health and suicide is a difficult topic so cred to the author. It is very seldom I do abandon a book, however if I pick it up again I will of course update my review.

Catherine, one of three sisters, is devastated when her sister Tricia takes her own life. She takes us back to the story of her childhood, growing up in a family ruled by her mother where no one is encouraged to speak about feelings, not shown much encouragement and with constant criticism. They grew up on a farm and did have some happy memories as children, but grew up under the shadow of depression, and of their mother's dissatisfaction with her life. The death of Tricia led to much soul searching and we go on this journey with her. I found this book hard to read at times but also hard to put down.

A heartbreaking true story. This was set in a time when feelings weren't discussed and I think this was the authors way of trying to make sense of what happened to her sister. A very sad but important story to be told.

A brilliant memoir that deals with mental health issues and the loss of a sibling so well. Growing up in the 70s was a million years from growing up now in so many ways. Children were seen but not heard, no one spoke about feelings and difficult issues were ignored. I didn’t grow up on a farm but much of Cathy’s childhood resounded with me. I enjoyed the non-linear structure of this tale, but always lurking behind everything was the tragic death of the youngest sister who hung herself in the house. This is very readable, so well written, so important to read for anyone who has been touched by any of these issues. I shall be giving copies of this book to various friends and I know it will bring insight and comfort.

First of all, it is of course non-fictional, second, it is a very personal report on a sister’s emotions and thoughts after her younger sibling committed suicide. This makes it difficult to use phrases like “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it” since they simply don’t work here. It is also somehow out of question to discuss the tone of writing as while reading it, I had the impression that it was much more written for Simpson herself than necessarily for a reader. It seemed to me to be her way of coping with the situation and sorting out her thoughts and feelings.

Catherine Simpson’s memoir is not a book easy to review. First of all, it is of course non-fictional, second, it is a very personal report on a sister’s emotions and thoughts after her younger sibling committed suicide. This makes it difficult to use phrases like “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it” since they simply don’t work here. It is also somehow out of question to discuss the tone of writing as while reading it, I had the impression that it was much more written for Simpson herself than necessarily for a reader. It seemed to me to be her way of coping with the situation and sorting out her thoughts and feelings.

I appreciated her openness in sharing her sometimes contradictory emotions, in not embellishing her own role in her sister’s life. She presents episodes where she was nasty as a kid or where she simply did not pay enough attention to Tricia’s needs. This surely is not easy to talk about. But this is exactly the point she is making: in their family, they never talked. The girls were taught to be silent, not to ask too many questions and best not to be seen at all. They did not have a poor childhood, they had good times and fun on the farm, too, but the family’s way of coping with emotions certainly played a role in the development of Tricia’s illness and final suicide.

The book definitely gives a good insight in living with depression and how the loved ones who are left behind after someone chose to end his or her life feel guilty and wonder if they could have done more. I don’t think there is much you can actually do to protect and help people with serious mental health issues, but you can certainly work on talking more with the people around you.