In Imagine Me Gone, his second novel, Adam Haslett (Union Atlantic) takes another giant step toward fulfilling the promise of his earlier work with a story about mental illness and the devastating effect it can have on an utterly ordinary family.
Narrated in alternating first-person sections, Imagine Me Gone spans roughly four decades in the life of this family headed by John, the depressive father from England, and Margaret, his American wife. Their oldest son, Michael, seemingly inherits his father's condition, layered over with anxiety. After John dies early in the novel, the remainder of the story focuses on the efforts of Margaret, and Michael's siblings, Celia and Alec, to save Michael from catastrophe, while grappling with their own lives and loves.
Haslett has a keen eye for the civilized but unmistakable conflict that lies at the root of this family's life. They struggle, not out of any shortage of love for each other, but instead because of an inability, despite their best efforts, to express that love in effective ways.
Through his restrained, yet expressive prose, Adam Haslett gently reminds us of the infinite scope the intimate drama of family life offers to a novelist of his imposing talent. --Harvey Freedenberg, attorney and freelance reviewer