The Father I Had

In the story that won Martin Townsend the coveted MIND 2008 Book of the Year Award, meet his father, Ron ...Ron had suffered from bipolar depression since the early 1950s, and Martin Townsend grew up knowing that at the slightest emotional trigger he could turn from a loving and compassionate dad to a dead-eyed depressive or bullying monster. One minute he'd be building his sons a play-house, the next terrorizing the family. The illness was an unwanted outsider that could spoil the rhythm of 'normal life' and leave Ron in a cycle of unending loneliness and confusion. Yet, despite his often erratic behaviour, Ron was a larger than life and much loved character. In "The Father I Had", Martin Townsend paints an intimate, tender and often painful portrait of life with his Dad, a man who he loved unconditionally but who would turn on him whenever the illness took hold. He also exposes the reality of an illness which is still, often, swept under the carpet.