In Bloom

By: Cordelia Feldman

Narrated by: Cordelia Feldman

A model teenage student... a double life... a psychotic breakdown... a searingly truthful debut novel.

It's 1997, and Tanya is a high-achieving sixth-former blessed with a comfortable middle-class lifestyle and a close, loving family. But at weekends, the dutiful daughter and model student is replaced by a reckless thrill-seeker who pulls drug-fueled all-nighters in acid house clubs.

Tanya thinks she has her double life under control. But soon, the drug-induced mood swings take a more sinister and dangerous turn as she lurches between depression and exaltation. Things finally fall apart when a terrifying sexual encounter gives rise to a full-blown psychotic breakdown and a prolonged stay in mental hospital.

"In Bloom is part fiction, part autobiography. A group of nice middle-class North London girls, all at private school, begin clubbing. They take what they refer to as 'sweets' and the central character, Tanya, becomes bipolar, clearly linked to the drugs. Her description of mental breakdown is graphic and deeply touching." (Jenni Murray, Daily Mail)

©2021 Cordelia Feldman (P)2021 Cordelia Feldman