Orla Shanaghy

Mental Orla Shanaghy

In Mental, Orla Shanaghy opens up the world that exists between the cracks. This timely collection explores our attitudes to mental health through five powerful and intimate short stories that are as deeply affecting as they are brutally honest.

A young couple hopes that restoring an old boat will bring them closer together. A flighty hair stylist feels slighted by a fickle and privileged client. A father finally comes to understand his demons during a visit to his childhood home. A schoolboy struggles to make sense of an adult world that seems to change and shift without warning. And following a disturbing diagnosis, a woman of substance questions everything she once believed about herself.

Each of these remarkable stories explores what it means to live with mental illness, set apart yet belonging still.