Thanks to Unbound and NetGalley for an advance copy of this. Love lay down beside me and we wept is an honest and real look at mental health that explores raw emotions and struggles. It’s an important read that I’m still processing, that was beautifully written and will hopefully help and inspire others.

These kind of books, I don't review them as a book as such, in terms of format or characters etc. instead I review it in terms of how it made me feel.

I liked that we didn't go straight into the depression side of this story. It has a few chapters of introduction, getting to know Helen as a person and a partner and a doctor, before we get to know her as a mental health patient. And normally I like my books to get right into the action, but I think this was important in order to feel some sort of compassion for her.

I have had my fair share of mental health issues and have not hidden from the fact I took an overdose last year, and so some bits were definitely a bit close to home. But I struggle to put into words how I feel at times, and so I enjoyed reading Helen's words on it. It was comforting in a way. I mean, I wish no-one has to experience these things, but hearing that someone else has makes you feel a little less alone.

She hasn't hidden anything. It's very raw and honest, and some bits are difficult to read. But it is an important read, especially when trying to navigate the stresses of a highly important job.

It's a sad look at how overachieving can impact your whole life. That anything other than top of the class success makes you a failure. But #it's the opposite in my view. Failing, admitting you can't do something, putting your health before anything else, that's not failing, that's bravery and success in a different form.

It is quite worrying the quantity of doctors and medical staff who end up having severe mental health issues. We often think that doctors are immune to health issues like this, because they're the ones we rely on to make us better.

I actually contacted Helen once I'd finished this to explain to her just how much it meant to me, and I sent her the final paragraph of this review:

As someone who thinks of suicide fairly regularly, and even attempted it, I think this book is a godsend. It is beautiful, tragic, sad, and heart wrenching - but it's beautiful and raw and honest and like a love story, and not to sound corny but it is a life saver. Anyone who has ever had those kind of thoughts, I'm not saying this book will stop you having them, but it'll make sure you know you're not alone, and sometimes that's all we need, to know there's someone with you.

**Thank you to Netgalley and unbound for the ARC in exchange for an honest review**

I loved this book! As someone who has struggled with depression and is familiar with psychiatric hospitals I was a little bit unsure how this book would affect me but I needn't have worried. This was a beautifully poignant, raw and open look at a battle with suicidal ideation and depression!
Helen Murray Taylor did a great job, despite the memory fog, of describing the situations she ended up in.
Moving and wonderful, I laughed and cried along with the author.
Would recommend this book!

I loved the flow of the poems, how quick and easy they were to read. With some of them, I wanted to sing them. This author has carefully constructed meaning and depth in their poems. You can tell the author is passionate about growth, solitude, embracing change. It was a really nice change of pace from my usual adult books as well as other books. It's interesting how the author alludes to more meaning in some poems compared to others. This author knows her stuff! Compliments all around.

Raw portrayal of one woman's lifelong strive for success, a happy marriage, a family of her own, and the mental unraveling that nearly ended it all.

Helen Murray Taylor's memoir almost reads like a narrative because she takes a no-holds-barred, self-deprecating approach to her life story. She speaks of jarring traumatic events with painful detail and provides readers with a rare glimpse into the inside workings of mental asylums.

Above all, her memoir speaks volumes about the love of family, friends, and a partner who is committed even in the most challenging and confusing times. Though not an easy read by any measure, this is highly impactful and worth the read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Unbound, for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

This compelling memoir offers a raw and deeply emotional exploration of mental health, taking readers on a gripping journey through the author's life. The author courageously reveals personal experiences and the challenges faced along the way, providing insight into how these struggles have profoundly affected her well-being.

Throughout the memoir, the narrative delves into complex topics such as anxiety and depression, as well as the pressure of societal expectations. These issues are presented with unflinching honesty, making some sections particularly challenging to read yet poignantly relatable for many. The author does not shy away from discussing the darker moments, which enhances the authenticity of their story.

Amidst the heavy themes, the author's vulnerability and openness shine brightly, offering a source of inspiration for anyone grappling with similar issues. Her ability to articulate these experiences comforts those who may feel isolated in their struggles.

In reflection, I feel an immense sense of gratitude for having read this memoir. It sheds light on the complexities of mental health and emphasizes the remarkable strength it takes to confront and navigate such challenges. The valuable insights offered in the book encourage empathy and understanding, making it a significant read for anyone interested in the nuances of mental health and personal resilience.

A wonderful book dealing with content and issues of severe depression and suicide. A very moving book and ultimately positive. It is beautifully written and I would love to read more from this author. Dear Author thank you for sharing and writing this book. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

A beautifully written memoir portraying one woman’s experiences of mental illness and her journey moving through life and its complex challenges.
Throughout the book I was touched and awed by the constancy and willingness of the author’s husband and sister who stood by her and actively supported the healing process,

I found the perspective and tone a bit clinical, a bit remote and removed—as if the author was writing about events that happened to someone else and then was relaying that to the audience. Therefore I unfortunately didn’t quite form a connection with the author, despite the personal and vulnerable, visceral feelings and events described.

Despite the distance, the book was interesting and carried the reader along, and I empathized for the author in her struggles.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Author Helen Murray Taylor, and Publisher Unbound for access to an ARC. All opinions are my own.

❤️ Hear yourself👂

"It wasn't until I said it out loud that I realised how the plan had been coalescing in my mind."

- love lay down beside me and we wept by Helen Murray Taylor


The instant I saw this title and that cover on @netgalley, I knew I wanted to read this. I was kindly given access to an eARC by Netgalley and publishers, @unbounders. Thank you to @drtaylorhelen_m too. ❤️

This is an unyielding account of what it feels like when it seems your brain and nervous system start working against you.

The impression I get of Helen from this book is that she is ambitious, articulate and academically gifted. She's warm and funny. Her voice is authentic and unpretentious (but still writerly) from the start. To be honest, she sounds like someone I would be friends with and I was (and am) completely invested in wanting to know she would be OK.

Helen runs the full gamut of emotions in this book. She gets rightfully angry, but never resentful. She is well supported but also, because of the nature of mental health treatment facilities, has to cope with an awful lot by herself too. When having difficulties with mental health, it can be easy to berate yourself for being weak, but what is most evident throughout this book is Helen's unquestionable strength. She endures much adversity and yet she persists. And persists.

I don't want to give anything away, but the book also underlined for me how important it is to trust your instincts, listen to what your body is telling you, and tune out what you think society expects you to do. In publishing this book, Helen is keen to encourage conversations about mental illness. I think, broadly, we are moving in the right direction in terms of being able to talk about mental health, but there's still much more work to be done. This book adds another eloquent and powerful voice to the conversation. ❤️

It will be published in April 2025.


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Massive thanks to the publisher for my early copy. I’ve read many memoirs that discuss mental health but that delve as deep as this book on the experiences of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act in the UK. I found the beginning of this memoir slightly slow going but raced through the second half. I loved Helen’s narrative voice and writing style, which managed to be both upfront in relaying the reality of the situation and the intimate feelings being experienced.

I applaud the author for sharing her mental health struggles. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into this book. I kept trying to come back to it, but it was a DNF at 38% for me.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for this arc. This is a brave and emotional memoir on living with depression. It felt like the author was putting into words some of the very same feelings I have

This is a memoir as moving, as powerful and as beautifully written as the best novel. Helen Murray Taylor was a brilliant student who became a doctor working punishingly long hours in a hospital, and from there she went on to work in medical research.

Helen had a loving husband, Mark, as well as a loving family and she adored her nieces and nephews. When Helen and Mark decided it was time to have a baby of their own they did not envisage the problems they were going to encounter.

Helen’s honesty is heartbreaking. She had reached all of her academic goals with ease, she loved playing sport and she was in a loving relationship, but the one thing she now wanted was becoming harder to reach. She goes on to tell of the traumatic consequences she suffered and she does it so clearly, even saying she checked some of her facts with Mark while writing this memoir, that she was able to project her emotions off the page directly on to me, as she will to any reader. I wanted to take her under my wing but the best part of this is she always had the love of her husband, family and friends throughout her painful and at times rather terrifying struggle.

Although I want to talk about Helen’s story in detail I have been deliberately vague here because it is her story to tell and I want everyone to be as captured by it as I have been. I do want to mention, though, Helen’s cat. Animals know when people need them. They are great givers of comfort and sympathy.

I love psychological studies and this is one of the best I have read. Helen wants to pursue writing and I am sure she will be a wonderful novelist, if that is the path she wants to take.

Published by Unbound

This is an amazingly honest, feeling and hard book to read but my goodness it hit the mark on depression in such a perfect way! Easy to understand and relate to so much of the contents, the angst, pain and confusion as to why we suffer the way we do! This book is the best I’ve read, to date, of mental health.

I will be recommending to certain, if not all my students, as it’s so easy to understand and relate to. Excellent in every way!

4.5*

Love Lay Down Beside Me and We Wept is an incredibly raw and honest memoir of the author's very difficult experience with severe depression.

This isn't the type of book you 'enjoy', it's a difficult read but is extremely compelling and had me hooked from the beginning.

Helen's writing is beautiful, heartfelt and open. A really important book for breaking down the stigma of mental illness.

My only criticism is that the pacing toward the end felt off and a little rushed.

Please take note that this book covers some very difficult topics, TW for:
medical trauma, car crash, infertility, IVF, miscarriage, PTSD, psychotic depression, suicidality, suicide attempts (including a semi-detailed recollection), being sectioned and held in a psychiatric hospital against her will), and ECT treatment.

Many thanks to the publisher, Unbound, Helen Murray Taylor, and Net Galley for the ARC of this book

I was a little worried about reading this book as I navigate my own depression. It took me a little bit to get into, then I knew I would finish it. It's so raw, honest, and real. So real. Reading someone say (write) the same things I struggle with, is hard but good. I have compassion for others, why don't I see it in myself? I'm glad I read this book.

I love this quote near the end:

"I hope that no one who reads this has ever found, or will ever find, themselves being dragged under by the force of their depression. But if that is you, if you are fran tically treading water to stop yourself drowning and the moment comes where you think you can't do it any more, the moment when you want to give in and let the sea take you, I beg you keep going. You have endured so much. I implore you to endure just a few minutes, a few hours, a day more. And please, please, call out for help. The help when it comes might not steer you dry land but it might be the lifejacket that lets you turn on your back and float, the thing that lets you rest awhile, that keeps you afloat a little bit longer. Survival isn't always about kicking against the waves. Tomorrow the tide might turn and wash you ashore."

A lifejacket to float. Rest. Survival isn't always about kicking against the waves. Just beautiful imagery.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.

Many thanks to the publisher, Unbound, Helen Murray Taylor, and Net Galley for the ARC of this book, which is coming out in February 2025. It's the author's memoir of how her mental health deteriorated to the point where she was sectioned with psychotic depression, and her recovery. I would give a lot of trigger warnings with this book, including, but possibly not limited, to: medical trauma, car crash, infertility, IVF, miscarriage, PTSD, psychotic depression, suicidality, suicide attempts (including one on-page), being sectioned (i,e. held in a psychiatric hospital against her will), and treatment with ECT. As that list of trigger warnings might suggest, it's sometimes difficult to read – I found the on-page suicide description particularly hard, even though it's not very graphic. It must have been a difficult book to write, and I commend the author for her bravery.

Murray Taylor describes her problems as beginning with a sense of not 'fitting in' during medical school, and a disappointment with the disjunct between the textbook descriptions of illnesses and the reality of patients' bodies. She first starts experiencing real stress, however, when she's a junior doctor in Glasgow, working what was known as a 'one in three' shift pattern: that is, she worked every third night in addition to her daytime hours. She slowly develops the fear that she's going to miss a crucial diagnosis. Due to the stress, she moves into medical researcher but her problems start to compound when she and her husband start trying for a child.

She's a compelling writer and I was really struck by some of her descriptions, such as when she describes images of patients haunting her. I did feel like the book didn't go into that much detail about how she recovered, which is a shame as she said that she would like to help others, and I feel that would be the most useful part for other people.

I think this is an important book in the fight to destigmatise serious mental illness. I would recommend it, but I think it might prove too triggering if you're currently suffering from mental ill health, so tread carefully.

A brave memoir of living with depression, told with unflinching honesty and raw emotion. Helen Murray Taylor charts her journey into and through mental illness, emotional insights threaded through with some moments of darkly comic relief. The pacing is all over the place, which throws off some of the emotional impact, but love lay down beside me and we wept is still a powerful read.

A very emotional read.
The author is so honest and raw that the emotion pours from the pages.
Really made me think and my heart goes out to anyone going through similar.
I think this is tremendously brave and I applaud the author for sharing this.
A book I feel we should probably all read and I am very glad I have.
Huge thanks to everyone concerned for my ARC. Beta of luck with what I’m sure will be a huge success when published.

This was a raw and emotional depiction of mental health. In this memoir the author describes their life and their struggles. It was a bit difficult to get though due to the difficult topics it covered. But in the end I’m glad I read it.