Is the story fictional or inspired? The latter, I hope not, but it feels too real to label it as a fictional novel. The second time around as I read Em and The Big Hoom, I couldn’t help but marvel at the depth of the emotions Jerry Pinto has created with his characters. But back then, I was too young to appreciate the subtle nuances of the book. I did find this a bit off-putting at times but on the whole I thought the book was a well-researched, touching read.I first read Em and The Big Hoom around eight years ago. At just over 200 pages, Em and the Big Hoom is quite a quick read, but I did feel that it went on a bit of a ramble at times, slipping off on a tangent momentarily before returning to the matter at hand. I thought Augustine – or the Big Hoom – was particularly strong throughout and obviously loved his wife very much.

The book is set between the 1960s and 1980s when mental illness wasn’t understood as well as it is now, so I admired Em’s family, who had to put up with a lot and did so with little fuss. Em is such a big character in the book, she can be crude at times and blunt to the point of hurting her family during the manic periods of her illness and I felt for all involved.

There are struggles and times of calm and bits in between and Em and the Big Hoom tells the story with warmth and humour, but you can feel the frustration at times. It tells the story of Imelda and Augustine and how they met, describing the happy times before Imelda’s mental illness took over and started to control both of their lives, as well as the highs and lows of living with a mother with bipolar.Įm and the Big Hoom takes an honest, upfront look at what it can be like dealing with mental illness, from the viewpoint of the sufferer and those around them, on a daily basis. The narrator is a young man who is looking back on his childhood, recounting the lives of his parents. Em has been suffering with bipolar since her children were very young and the book tells of the struggles the family have endured during her illness. Imelda and Augustine – or Em and the Big Hoom – are the parents of the book’s narrator.

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Big hoom