All Down Darkness Wide by Seán Hewitt (Paperback)

Description

Staff Pick: “This is possibly the most skilfully crafted memoir I have ever read. Seán Hewitt is first and foremost a poet and you can certainly tell by his exquisite writing in this gothic memoir. Hewitt recounts his university days, a post-graduation trip he takes to Colombia where he meets Elias who he falls deeply in love with, through to their experience living together in Sweden. This is so much more than a love story though, it explores the complexities of mental health and queerness, and the anguish of being in love with someone who struggles with their mental health. But this story is not unrelentingly dark. At its root, it is a story of hope.” Amy.

A luminous and haunting memoir from the prize-winning poet – a story of love, heartbreak and coming of age, and a fearless exploration of queer identity and trauma. When Sean meets Elias, the two fall headlong into a love story, but they soon come face-to-face with crisis, after Elias sets out on the path to suicide, then turns back. As Hewitt wrestles with the aftermath, he delves deep into his own history, enlisting the ghosts of queer figures and poets before him.

From a nineteenth-century cemetery in Liverpool to the pine forests of Gothenburg, Hewitt plumbs the darkness in search of solace and hope. All Down Darkness Wide is an unflinching meditation on the burden of living in a world that too often sets happiness and queer life at odds, and a tender portrayal of what it’s like to be caught in the undertow of a loved one’s deep depression. By turns devastating and soaring, it is a mesmerising story of heartache and renewal, and a work of rare and transcendent beauty.

ISBN 9781529114478