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Your Voice in My Head Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Your Voice in My Head


This is the story of a biopolar screenwriter/reporter who loses her beloved psychiatrist to lung cancer just as the love of her life also suddenly leaves her. Emma Forrest begins her story by describing her close relationship with her parents, who are quirky to say the least. Her father is humorous in an offbeat way and her mother suffers from severe anxiety. Their relationships are close ones, but Emma has immigrated to New York and her parents live in England where Emma grew up. When Emma was 14 years old, her father writes note to the school to excuse her from gym that day. His not is in the form of a precise triangle, written for his own pleasure. He is so meticulous with it that he makes Emma late for school. Emma's mother is neurotically anxious. She worries about the family dog not drinking enough water, then upon encouraging him to drink more, she become overly worried that he's drinking too much. She makes strange comments aloud to herself about things like George Clooney's teeth. Emma also has a sister, Lisa, who was very inventive as a child. She writes down everything that Emma has ever done to bother her, with the date and the deed noted in detail.
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We learn very early in the story that her New York psychiatrist, Dr. R, has died after she'd been seeing him professionally for over eight years. In fact, she has moved to Los Angeles and still has phone therapy sessions with him and sometimes flies to New York in order to continue therapy. He has involved himself in her life by going to her book readings, sending her letters of pride over her achievements, all staying within professional doctor/patient guidelines. He really cares about his patients. At one point in time, she hadn't spoken with him in a while and when she does try to make an appointment, she gets only an answering message machine every time. She eventually discovers that he has died and she is devastated. She discovers that none of her doctor's patients had known he was even sick with lung cancer. He had seen patients right up until he died. He was a wonderful psychiatrist who always took an optimistic view of life.

As the story takes shape, Emma is living in New York and working as a writer for London-based newspapers. Her moods are unpredictable. She has taken up with a boyfriend who she refers to as "bad boyfriend." The two of them are very much alike in that they both are into self mutilation, cutting themselves with razors. Emma is also bulimic at this point. She is just 22 years old. After a trip to the Emergency Room for a botched sleeping pill suicide attempt, she is sent to Dr. R, a psychiatrist, with whom she bonds and who ultimately saves her life.

Emma takes a job in Los Angeles as a screenwriter and is hanging out with people like Gloria Steinem, poets and movie stars. Yet she still harbors her severe anxieties and depression and considers herself "crazy." She finds a "normal" boyfriend named Christopher and they live in Heath Ledger's rented bungalow. Eventually they break up. She then meets a famous movie star, who she code-names GH (for gypsy husband) throughout the book. They are seemingly crazy for one another to an extreme. While he is away on location shoots, he sends her all types of gifts and tells her how much he needs her and loves her. She feels the same way. GH loves Emma so much that he wants her to have his baby and it will be named Pearl when it's born. He wants her to have his child badly, he says from afar, and she considers it. On his flight back to Emma from a movie shoot, GH calls her from the plane and tells her how much he loves and cannot wait to see her and begin their life together. Yet when he arrives at her home, he tells her the relationship is over and he needs space. She cannot deal with this and is very, very confused by his actions.   Some time later, she attempts suicide in a bathtub with pills but at the last moment, she hears Dr. R's optimistic voice in her head, telling her things will be better.

It is at this point that Emma finds out about Dr. R's death. He is the one person she feels she can turn to and his death is catastrophic for her and his patients. She rallies, though, thanks to all of his hard work with her over the years. She decides to write this story about her life and his help and how she overcame her mental strife. She is finally happy to be at home within her own skin.
Best part of story, including ending: I loved this story because it takes you to the depths of a person's misery and shows how they can climb back up again.

Best scene in story: My favorite scenes involve the ones with GH, the movie star. It is simple to figure out who he really is via the internet and that makes the story that much more real for the reader.

Opinion about the main character: I like and admire Emma's tenacity after all she has been through. She chooses the wrong men due to a variety of reasons, yet in the end, she has discovered who she really is and what she needs.

The review of this Book prepared by Pam Pieroni a Level 1 Blue Jay scholar

Chapter Analysis of Your Voice in My Head

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Plot & Themes

Phys disability/mental struggle?    -   Yes Struggle with    -   mental illness    -   loss of loved one Period of greatest activity?    -   1950+ Loss of loved one?    -   Yes Which loved one?    -   Close platonic friend

Subject of Biography

Gender    -   Female Profession/status:    -   writer Ethnicity    -   Jew Nationality    -   British Unusual characteristics:    -   Mentally Ill

Setting

How much descriptions of surroundings?    -   6 () United States    -   Yes City?    -   Yes City:    -   New York Century:    -   1980's-Present

Writing Style

Book makes you feel?    -   encouraged Pictures/Illustrations?    -   None How much dialogue in bio?    -   roughly even amounts of descript and dialog How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life?    -   26-50% of book

Books with storylines, themes & endings like Your Voice in My Head

Emma Forrest Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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