The Woman Who Thought Too Much: A Memoir Main Edition

`It is usual to praise the authors of memoir for their honesty, though it seems the least they can offer the reader. Can a writer be too honest? At times you want to close this book to protect its subject from your scrutiny…Empathy is her problem, as it is also her strength, and she writes well enough for us to empathise with her in turn. There is no limit to the ingenuity of the catastrophising imagination… She sounds like a woman in a hurry to explain, and sometimes like a navigator just glimpsing a chart which shows calmer waters. She brings insight and a rueful wit to her story, interesting not only for her fellow walking-wounded, but for writers and would-be writers… This talented and thoughtful young woman must be braver than she imagines, to step into the fiery circus where the modern writer performs her tricks.’ –Hilary Mantel, Guardian

`A clear, unsentimental poet’s eye… a sharpness of detail… conveys with great skill.. the identity issue of separating the disorder from the person… Moving and compelling, full of dark humour and insight.’ –Sunday Business Post

‘Limburg has penned a painstaking account of life dominated by debilitated anxiety… It makes absorbing reading. Whether her exceptional insights into her own life stem from poring over the minutiae of her existence, or from a rare poetic insight, her candid narrative evokes both pity and admiration.’ –Metro

`Reading this will compel some readers – I’m one of them – to ponder their own hang-ups. There are no easy answers, but this book offers some hope… Limburg is a talented writer, and poet… and her story is revealing, honest and thought-provoking – as you’d expect.’ –Time Out

`Weighty in places, both intellectually and emotionally, but Limberg renders her autobiographical tale with charming gusto and boundless energy while referencing everything from medical journals, Freud and Dante, to Hollywood films and Prefab Sprout. As a result it’s a lovely read, expertly crafted and imbued with wry humour. These very personal and extraordinary accounts of a difficult life feel markedly different from the norm.’
–The List