Imagine Me Gone

American author Adam Haslett’s novel Imagine Me Gone (2016) revolves around Margaret and John, a married couple. John suffers from depression, a condition one of his children shares. The story is narrated by the couple and their three children, each providing the point of view for different chapters. The novel was named to the shortlists for the National Book Award and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Publishers Weekly said of Haslett’s book, “This is a book that tenderly and luminously deals with mental illness and with the life of the mind. Occasionally, the narrative style (it switches among monologues, letters, and messages from the doctor’s office) feels stiff. But in Michael, Haslett has created a most memorable character. This is a hypnotic and haunting novel.”

The young American girl Margaret is prepared to marry her fiancé, the young Englishman John. She visits the United States for the Christmas holiday and then returns to England where she finds that John is in a hospital. His ongoing battle with depression has landed him there, though this is the first time it has occurred in a long time. Margaret still plans to marry him and stays with him as he recuperates. Many years pass and Margaret and John remain together. They have three children: Michael, Celia, and Alec. Michael is the only one of the three who, like his father, suffers from mental illness. Michael deals with severe anxiety. John’s life begins to change as he loses a number of jobs and finds himself unemployed with no possible employment on the horizon. His worry over his inability to provide for his family triggers his depression. John says his goodbyes to his children and takes his own life.

In the aftermath of John’s death, his family focuses on helping Michael whose mental state continues to get worse as he gets older. He frequently obsesses about women that he cannot have because they are married or gay. These obsessive acts cause people to avoid Michael, which serves to increase his anxiety. He has difficulty getting into college and after that, graduate school. Eventually, he manages to get into school, but he does not finish. He drops out of college and then later has a mental breakdown, leading him to leave graduate school and to move back in with his mother. Over the years, he has run up debts by taking out loans that he had no way of paying back. Predictably, this also increases his anxiety. Medications help Michael deal with his condition, but the more he uses the medicines, the more medicine he ends up needing.



During times when Michael is having anxiety attacks, he looks to his family for assistance. They offer him support as he continues to pursue women who do not show up for dates with him. These times leave him feeling that he is unable to breathe. The family’s support for Michael frequently leads them to neglect the needs of others and suffer financial setbacks. Meanwhile, they have things in their own lives to tend to. Celia is unhappy in her work and is not able to make a commitment to the boyfriend with whom she lives. Alec, who is gay, has the same issues with commitment as his sister. Margaret is struggling due to Michael’s inability to repay all of the loans he has amassed.

Alec decides to stage an intervention of sorts and tries to get Michael off of his medication. Celia, not optimistic about the success of this, agrees to help and hopes for the best. She, along with Margaret, is at the point of breaking under the strain of trying to support Michael. Michael agrees to work at helping himself as he wants to move forward just as the family does. Unfortunately, Michael cannot live without his medication and he dies. A message he leaves for his family helps them cope with their own issues. They finally are able to understand Michael. Celia marries and Alec is able to commit to someone. Margaret moves to a new home and is able to recall her life with John without being overcome with sadness.

National Public Radio praised Haslett’s novel saying, “Haslett's signature achievement in Imagine Me Gone is to temper the harrowing with the humorous while keeping a steady bead on the pathos. You want sympathetic characters? You want a narrative that showcases love as a many-splendored thing capacious enough to encompass stalwart, long-suffering spouses, loyal siblings, suffocatingly obsessive crushes, and casual, noncommittal relationships (both gay and straight) that morph as if by magic into soul-sustenance? You want writing that thrums with anguish and compassion? It's all here.”