A successful young writer describes a personal season in hell. Oliver Mol found a degree of early success with his debut memoir, Lion Attack! He was broadly feted and received the Scribe Non Fiction Prize for Young Writers. Yet it was this very success that precipitated a chronic, 10-month migraine. Depressed and not knowing what to do with himself, Mol took on a job as a train guard. If he couldn't read or write, at least there was the possibility of staying employed and useful. Train Lord is not so much a memoir about his work as a train guard, although there are plenty of entertaining workplace vignettes interspersed throughout, but more a story of mental breakdown. Mol suffered low self-esteem and depression. It's tempting to surmise that his vaulting ambition as a writer somehow backfired into a crisis of confidence: his migraine affliction made it painful to look at screens, read books or write. What recommends Train Lord is Mol's heartbreaking honesty. He's clearly suffered a season in hell and has managed to put his experiences on paper. The writing is plain and direct, yet haunting and melancholy. Anyone who struggles with their mental health may find a friend in this book. Train Lord: The Astonishing True Story of One Man's Journey to Getting His Life Back on Track, by Oliver Mol. Published by Michael Joseph. $35 Release date: 2nd August, 2022 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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