(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

San Francisco, mid-1990s. In this poignant and honest short personal memoir, Gabriella West goes back to her twenties to explore a confusing friendship with a married couple that started promisingly, but became a painful and obsessive love. Readers who have found themselves in destructive and addictive relationships will find this compelling reading.

[Full disclosure: Gabriella West sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]

I’ve read some memoirs, but never any short memoirs.  After reading That Lonely, Sinking Feeling, I think I may be warming up to short memoirs.  This was not something I’d normally read, but I’m glad I did in all honesty.

Gabriella West writes in a completely open, honest and introspective fashion.  She chronicles how her feelings for a married man became an obsessive and addictive love, partly because he was one of the first people that treated her well in her adult life.  Now, that’s greatly oversimplifying things, so if you want the full story you should read her memoir.  Throughout the 12 pages you really get the feeling that she’s thought about her downward spiral a lot.  That helps make this short memoir not only interesting, but adds some perspective to it.

If you’ve ever longed for an unobtainable someone, you’ll be able to identify with That Lonely, Sinking Feeling.  Gabriella West’s way of explaining the feelings in those kinds of ‘relationships’ is perfect; I couldn’t have said it better myself.  This should be required reading for pretty much everyone, especially those pining about unrequited love.  The only people I would not recommend this memoir to are those uncomfortable with frank discussions about LGBT relationships.  It’s not the main focus of the memoir, but I’m aware there are strong feelings about a topic like that, so you’ve been warned.

I give this memoir 5/5 stars.

Amazon*

*Only available as a Kindle ebook.