Billy Brennan has a weight problem. He weighs over 400 pounds. He has also just lost his eldest son to suicide. None of it makes sense to him or his family and this book explores the story as they struggle to make sense of where they find themselves, as Billy tries to finally take control of his weight and find a positive in a very negative stage of their lives.
I loved how the author really captured the grief and despair that had hit the family - the unanswered questions as to why their son had chosen to take his own life, the trying to stay strong for their other children and how it affected the relationship between the parents and children. As Billy sets out on a quest to use his weight loss as a positive in raising funds and awareness for the awfully high suicide rates, he meets others along the way in similar positions and also tries to get his message out to the media of just how important awareness is, and not just to be seen as a freak show because of his weight issues. He wants to take control back.
His family doesn't always support him on his journey and you can understand the torment they must all be going through - some wanting to hide away and not to have anymore attention brought to them - and I loved how Billy finds solace in the broken toys he 'liberates' from work and how he finds that connection back to happier times with his son Michael.
The topics discussed in this book are sympathetically dealt with by the author and really captures the conflicting feelings that those grieving are often left with, while looking back on happier times that they shared with Michael and trying to understand why they couldn't help him. Was it something they'd done? Why didn't he talk to them? Why?
A very powerful and poignant story with a number of layers and I can highly recommend it
I loved how the author really captured the grief and despair that had hit the family - the unanswered questions as to why their son had chosen to take his own life, the trying to stay strong for their other children and how it affected the relationship between the parents and children. As Billy sets out on a quest to use his weight loss as a positive in raising funds and awareness for the awfully high suicide rates, he meets others along the way in similar positions and also tries to get his message out to the media of just how important awareness is, and not just to be seen as a freak show because of his weight issues. He wants to take control back.
His family doesn't always support him on his journey and you can understand the torment they must all be going through - some wanting to hide away and not to have anymore attention brought to them - and I loved how Billy finds solace in the broken toys he 'liberates' from work and how he finds that connection back to happier times with his son Michael.
The topics discussed in this book are sympathetically dealt with by the author and really captures the conflicting feelings that those grieving are often left with, while looking back on happier times that they shared with Michael and trying to understand why they couldn't help him. Was it something they'd done? Why didn't he talk to them? Why?
A very powerful and poignant story with a number of layers and I can highly recommend it