It came across less like a memoir of one’s experiences with mental health and their methods of dealing with it, and more as a therapy journal which was published via the author’s prestige, rather than her talent. to embracing womanhood (One way of knowing you have crossed from girlhood to womanhood is that men stop furtively masturbating at you from bushes and start shouting things at you from cars) to becoming a mother (Birth is a beautiful thing, if your idea of beauty is a tractor pulling a combine harvester out of your vagina), Georgia Pritchett’s memoir takes us through a life lived anxiously. Her writing and production credits include Veep, Have I Got News for You, Smack the Pony, Miranda, The Thick of It and many more. Georgia invented a superhero alter ego and had an imaginary friend, Samantha, who was never keen on spending any time with her.

Told with warmth, pace and humour, it touches on dark areas while remaining both engaging and touching. I wasn’t familiar with the name of Georgia Pritchett, but unwittingly I was already familiar with some of comedic writing work from the satirical programmes and the recent amazing ‘Succession’, so this really was purchased on the basis of cover and enticing title and a great choice of narrator. While she achieves professional success her personal life still throws her more curveballs - miscarriages, eventually having two sons (nicknamed 'The Speck' and 'The Scrap') who are diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum, and then her life partner experiencing a potentially fatal health development.Winning a prestigious award, she agonized over receiving free gifts after the ceremony (It was an excruciating experience. I found, though, that the moments of humor helped to temper the more serious stories to make them more palatable. That’s how Pritchett makes us see her beyond the glitter and glamour of celebrities she met or the awards she won. In therapy, in full confession mode, the author free associates her way to the very last lines, and by the time we got there I realized I had laughed out loud many, many times, gotten quiet and reflective a few time, sobbed once with heartfelt love for the beauty of the moment she'd described, and then was gently read out of her book with her last line, full of appreciation for all that she'd shared with me.

I saw one review said that this was like bad standup, but for me, it was like I was going through her private Twitter where she was being silly and was oversharing about her life.one way of knowing you have crossed from girlhood to womanhood is that men stop furtively masturbating at you from bushes and start shouting things at you from cars. I always love reading books about anxiety and depression, as it makes me feel that I am not alone when I suffer.

From worrying about the monsters under her bed as a child, to embracing womanhood, to being offered free gifts after an award ceremony, worry has accompanied her at every turn. It feels very personal and honest, and I really liked that - although at times I was desperate for a bit more structure and a widening explanation of things. Like Middlemarch, it has secrets, it has lies and it has an ongoing custody battle between my dog and me for ownership of my Starsky doll.My Mess Is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety is a compilation of her concerns, written down in response to a suggestion by a therapist, whose help she sought to address her anxiety. Soul-baring yet lighthearted, poignant yet written with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, My Mess Is a Bit of a Life is a tour through the carnival funhouse of Georgia’s life, from her anxiety-ridden early childhood where disaster loomed around every corner (When I was little I used to think that sheep were clouds that had fallen to earth. I’m always on the lookout for books that make me laugh and – as it made me giggle to myself in Waterstones – this one hit the spot in seconds.