Goodbye Jamie Boyd, by Elizabeth Fensham

Reviewed by Cecelia Rotella

The first thing I noticed about Goodbye Jamie Boyd that you don’t see every day in books is its verse-style narrative. I haven’t read poetry-style books since high school, so it was pretty different to what I’m used to. In short, it’s a sweet-sad tale about Anna Boyd and her close bond with her older brother, Jamie. Anna and Jamie have done everything together, and are as inseparable as Siamese Twins. But there is something strange going on, and many things are thrown into the open when Anna kills Jamie... something which he doesn’t take to too kindly.

There aren’t many books that sheds light on the dark and almost taboo subject of mental illness. Goodbye Jamie Boyd delves into some of these issues, especially those of isolation and self-mutilation due to the effects of mental illness. It can be very eye-opening at times, especially if you’ve never been involved with anyone who has a mental illness. It shows that it doesn’t have to be a lonely journey and a burden to place entirely on yourself, and that sharing it and feeling like you’re part of a community is a step toward a relatively normal life.

While it is a very easy novel to read (it took me a train trip on the way home one afternoon to finish it), it reads as though it’s aimed at high school students, and would probably be a good book to put on an English reading list.