Hello, Old Friend: A Novella

By: Elizabeth Bedlam

Narrated by: Elizabeth Bedlam

Length: 1 hr and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

"Eve looked out the window. She wondered, why did she continue to come here? All the while her doctor drolled on and on about her goals for the week. Her depression lingered over her entire life, like a swarm of flies. Constantly ticking and buzzing in her ears, crawling over her skin, biting her where she couldn’t reach. She thought once she stopped taking chemical medication and moved on to talk therapy things would improve, so far they remained about the same. She just had more homework assignments...Plagued by irrational fears, anxiety, and depression; Eve, a mentally ill eccentric, turns to Dr. Eustace Gish, in hopes of navigating her inner wounds and reuniting her fractured self. She follows his program, a series of six esoteric self-help discs that are designed to help those struggling to ascend to their higher selves".

©2020 Elizabeth Bedlam (P)2021 Elizabeth Bedlam

Dark and disturbing with a palpable sense of dread

"What does mental illness taste like to a serpent?"

Absolutely loved this one. It was dark and disturbing with a palpable sense of growing dread from the very first page.

The Downward Spiral

Hello, Old Friend explores some of the most frightening aspects of the human condition. You can fix a broken leg pretty easily, but a broken brain is a completely different nightmare. In the real world (which Bedlam’s writing captures in impeccable fashion), often times, there is no fix. Our sad reality shines true in this story of severe psychological decline.

I very much enjoyed this book, and kick myself for not reading it sooner. I had the physical copy but hadn’t gotten around to it. I’m kind of glad in a way, because Bedlam narrates this one herself and really does a nice job with bringing the character to life. As someone who’s been around mental illness in one way or another for the majority of my life, I sensed an all-to-real vibe from this book. The author must’ve researched this in detail or been able to relay experiences, because there is a lot of nuance to the story that build up the more disturbing elements we get as the story progresses.

I enjoyed the self-help discography chapter set up, it was thoughtful and unique. Really hoping to see more people reading and reviewing this book. I see a lot of books being shared online not half as awesome and chilling as this. That’s tragic. Not as tragic as Eve’s trajectory in this book, but pretty close.