The Heartland by Nathan Filer

In 2013 former psychiatric nurse Nathan Filer won the Costa Book of the Year award for his debut novel The Shock of the Fall, described by Jo Brand as ‘one of the best books about mental illness.’ Now he has followed that up with a moving and clear-eyed non-fiction book on schizophrenia, that most misunderstood of conditions. The Heartland: Finding and Losing Schizophrenia (June 2019) has already had amazing endorsements from Christie Watson, author of nursing memoir The Language of Kindness, who said of The Heartland that ‘this book will change the way people understand schizophrenia’ while Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep said ‘I have never read a more powerful book about mental health,’ and Max Porter, author of Grief is The Thing with Feathers, said ‘I would implore you to read it, and share it, and talk about it.’

To give you a flavour of the book, you can read the introduction here.

And you can see Nathan Filer reading the introduction here:

You can preorder or buy the book from your local bookshop, and also from these online retailers:

Waterstones
Amazon
Hive
Foyles
WHSmith
Blackwell
Guardian Bookshop
Audible audio book

Nathan is also embarking on a series of events around the country. You can catch him at:

25 May, morning – Bath Lit Fest – with Philippa Perry
25 May, evening – Hay Festival – with Bryony Gordon
6 June – Foyles Charing Cross – with Cathy Rentzenbrink
11 June – Waterstones Nottingham
15  June – Dalkey Book Festival
19 June – Bristol Festival of Ideas at Waterstones Bristol
27 June – Waterstones Brighton
16 July – UCL Event with Anthony David
13 Aug – Edinburgh International Book Festival
9 Sept – London Southbank with Christie Watson
28 Sept – Marlborough LitFest interview with Jon Stock
5 Oct – Borderlines Festival, Carlisle
10 Oct – Royal College of Nursing for World Mental Health Day
12 Oct – Cheltenham paired with Esme Wang
13 Oct – Durham event with Joanna Cannon
28 Oct – Chorleywood Bookshop with Joanna Cannon in Memorial Hall
7 November – Richmond Book Festival with Joanna Cannon
Date TBC – Dulwich Books Festival