Official Review: Kiss Billie for Me xxx by Jeanette Gray

[jwalker73]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Kiss Billie for Me xxx" by Jeanette Gray.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Kiss Billie for Me is a true story which highlights the impact that postnatal depression (PND) can have on a family. Told with both honesty and compassion, Jeanette Gray shares her family’s history in the hope that it will increase awareness of PND and encourage affected people to seek treatment. Jeanette also hopes that her book will help reduce the stigma associated with this illness and restore dignity to women who have experienced this condition.

Kiss Billie for Me spans over several generations and is divided into two parts. Part one is told in the third-person perspective and details the life of both Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Douglas Trainer and her first-born son, William ‘Billie’ Edward Pedder. Part two sees the story move to the first-person perspective, told from Jeanette’s point of view. Jeanette is Billie’s youngest daughter. Her recollection of events starts from the age of four.

In 1929, Betty Trainer left the United Kingdom and moved to Melbourne, Australia, in search of a better life. Here she met her future husband, William, and they started a family. Billie was born in June 1931 and his younger brother, Harry, was born in August 1932. Following the birth of each child, Betty suffered from depressive episodes. These were further exacerbated by a lack of both family and social supports. When Harry was three months old a tragedy occurred, changing the lives of generations to come.

During the preface, Jeanette explained the reason behind writing this book in two sections. Since Betty’s history was considered a shameful secret and, therefore, never discussed, there was a lack of personal accounts from both family and friends regarding Betty’s life. As a result, the information used to write Part One was compiled from facts obtained through court records, government agencies, letters and genealogical findings. I felt it was evident that Jeanette had thoroughly researched her family’s history to enable her to write this book with as much accuracy as possible. She had obtained transcripts, correspondence and newspaper articles to ensure the details were correct and included copies of these in her book.

The second part of this book was based on Jeanette’s own experiences and memories. Overall, I really admired the author’s writing style. Jeanette told her story in a very factual manner, acknowledging her emotions but without displaying elements of self-pity. Jeanette shared some very personal and heartbreaking aspects of her family’s life and, consequently, I felt great empathy for what this family had endured. I particularly liked the way Jeanette highlighted the fact that, if postnatal depression was not handled with the care and support it required, it could have a major impact on future generations, particularly in relation to bonding, relationships, emotions, reasoning and behaviour.

I also liked the fact that Jeanette scanned copies of the letters that Betty wrote to her sister-in-law, Myrtle, and included these in her book. I felt this was a wonderful addition as it reinforced the reality of the situation, reminding the reader that these events actually occurred. It also gave the book a very personal feel, making me feel privileged to share somebody’s most private thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, I was unable to read as much of the letters as I would have liked. The main reason for this was that, due to the age of the correspondence, there were numerous areas of fading, smudging, creases, stains and, at times, words showing through from the back pages. This, combined with the unfamiliar writing, made reading the content quite challenging, particularly on my Kindle. While the author extracted the key details from each letter and wrote one or two sentences addressing these, I personally wish I had been able to read each letter in its entirety. This was the only aspect of the book I found a bit disappointing. While this did not detract from the story in any way, I felt the addition of a typed transcript, either following each letter or in an appendix, could have enhanced the reading experience even further.

The editing in this book was virtually faultless. While there were some misspelt words, missed spaces, omitted hyphens and misplaced commas, these were rare. This said, the version of this story I received to review was a proof copy and these errors may have been fixed prior to publication.

Overall, I enjoyed gaining a deeper insight into this illness and, therefore have no hesitation in rating this book 4 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this story to any person who has been touched by postnatal depression, either directly or indirectly. Since this book offers awareness, support, understanding and personal insight into PND, I feel it would be a beneficial read for any family member or friend providing support to someone with this illness. I also feel this book would be a valuable resource for healthcare professionals, particularly as it demonstrates the long-term effects if inadequate or inappropriate treatment is received. Finally, this story would provide an interesting read for anyone wanting to increase their general knowledge about PND. This book is unlikely to appeal to readers who do not enjoy biographies or books about mental health issues.

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Kiss Billie for Me xxx
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[Nmadinachi Egwim]

Thank you JWalker for this well written review! It's easy to see from your review why this book would make a captivating read for one, especially people like me who love to get the realistic feel in a book. There's just something heartwarming in being able to translate that what you're reading was an actual experience of a real person that lived, and like you mentioned, it's a privilege to peer into the personal thoughts and feelings. I would really love to share that privilege by reading the book

[kandscreeley]

This is a subject that is still rather taboo to talk about. So, I'm glad that someone has put their story out. There needs to be more awareness that this is something that actually does happen. Thanks so much for the review. The book sounds like a winner.

[Libs_Books]

This sounds like an amazing book - all credit to the author for all that painstaking research work she did. That must have been an incredible journey for her to make. I hope the book is successful for her, as to raise awareness of this important topic would be a great achievement. Thanks for choosing this book and for such a sympathetic and powerful review.

[cpru68]

This book sounds wonderful. I absolutely love stories based on an author's family line. And, the subject matter is still somewhat one we do not hear about many times. I think a lot of women still try to solider through after the birth and keep feelings down for the sake of the family. I like that this book did contain real letters from that time period. What a treasure to still have those in possession. I enjoyed your thorough review of this one. Sounds like the author did a great job putting it all together.

[Sahani Nimandra]

It is so sad when people are socially inflicted and that the victims have to suffer in silence. A true tale that depicts the sorrowful reality in people who suffer depression. Thank you for sharing!

[kdstrack]

Great review! I really want to read this book after reading your review. True stories, supported by personal letters and other documents from the past, intrigue me. Thanks for such a comprehensive and compelling review.

[Espie]

Thank you for your well-written and compassionate review. This enlightening true story seems to make the malady as closer to reality as it was and is already for some, indeed.