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Broken Porcelain
Broken Porcelain is not just a book of essays describing one Black woman’s experience of mental illness, but rather a memoir-in-essays that shatters the walls of our hearts and guides us towards empathy – all while providing social commentary that demystifies stigmas of mental illness.
In her singular lyrical prose, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika covers topics such as social media’s role in how we view depression, generational trauma, what self-care really is, taking anti-depressant medication, and finding love when you are mentally ill. The author writes with poignant honesty about the darkness of her mental illness and breaks down what mental illness is (and is not).
Broken Porcelain is an urgent invitation to open our hearts and minds to learning, listening, and daring to face our own hidden pain. Rirhandzu eAfrika provides us with the perspective of what it means to survive a brain that is trying to sabotage you and stand as a strong reminder that those who suffer with mental illness are not alone.
In her singular lyrical prose, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika covers topics such as social media’s role in how we view depression, generational trauma, what self-care really is, taking anti-depressant medication, and finding love when you are mentally ill. The author writes with poignant honesty about the darkness of her mental illness and breaks down what mental illness is (and is not).
Broken Porcelain is an urgent invitation to open our hearts and minds to learning, listening, and daring to face our own hidden pain. Rirhandzu eAfrika provides us with the perspective of what it means to survive a brain that is trying to sabotage you and stand as a strong reminder that those who suffer with mental illness are not alone.
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Published March 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 18, 2022
I was pondering whether this deserved 3 or 4 stars. It feels a little bit wrong being critical of an author that has been brave enough to expose their mental health struggles in such a way. She covered various different aspects of her life and how they contributed to her mental health conditions - from her relationships with her family and wider community to generational trauma and the impact of living in a racially divided country. She also covered the contentious impact that social media had in terms of allowing people to speak out about their struggles but also minimising the seriousness of these issues in terms of the was people curate their profiles. At the end of the day, the content was important and I'm sure writing the essays were cathartic for the author to some extent and may be helpful to other people experiencing similar things.
However, I also thought she tried to be smart by including lots of academic references and quotes from famous people who've gone through similar things. For me, this took away from the flow of the book which should have really just focused on her story.
However, I also thought she tried to be smart by including lots of academic references and quotes from famous people who've gone through similar things. For me, this took away from the flow of the book which should have really just focused on her story.
January 31, 2023
Whew... I don't know where to start with this one. It was an emotional ride. I felt like I was opening closed doors from my past. It was emotionally demanding. The book gave what it need to give.
It's brutal, heartbreaking, raw and unhinged. The authors voice is unapologetic. She left me with some quotable quotes and got me thinking of how the language of silincing is used to weapons and victimize the weak, how buried trauma always have a way of manifesting itself.We need to face ourselves and our demons everyday.
If you are suffering from depression , or haven't done the internal work I highly recommend this book. Relebone bared her soul here . The essays are deeply personal, intimate, uncanny living with depression.
The book is serves a reminded that the "work" never stops until we die, we might find better ways of dealing with life. It is absurd to want happiness...it's a fleeting emotions, but rather we should create our own sense of togetherness in community and chase contentment and safety. All we need is a sense of community.
It's brutal, heartbreaking, raw and unhinged. The authors voice is unapologetic. She left me with some quotable quotes and got me thinking of how the language of silincing is used to weapons and victimize the weak, how buried trauma always have a way of manifesting itself.We need to face ourselves and our demons everyday.
If you are suffering from depression , or haven't done the internal work I highly recommend this book. Relebone bared her soul here . The essays are deeply personal, intimate, uncanny living with depression.
The book is serves a reminded that the "work" never stops until we die, we might find better ways of dealing with life. It is absurd to want happiness...it's a fleeting emotions, but rather we should create our own sense of togetherness in community and chase contentment and safety. All we need is a sense of community.
September 11, 2023
Actual rating, 4.5⭐️
October 13, 2024
Not my cup of tea & as mentioned earlier I hated the referencing.
September 10, 2022
This raw and moving book was like holding a mirror to myself rather than "someone else's story". It was not an easy one to grasp but it's one that will definitely be re-read at another stage
April 26, 2022
The book 'Broken Porcelain' is a memoir written in the form of twenty five essays that are categorized into five. The book is about the author, Relebone , growing up Black, female, and living with mental illness in contemporary South Africa. She opens up on the dynamics of being a first born girl child. She shares on the precarity of being a friend, lover, cousin, sister, daughter, employee , artist, and a student, with mental health issues.
Because we do not exist in a vacuum, 'Broken Porcelain' is consequently a story about Relebone's parents, siblings, aunts, grandparents and friends. In writing about her love ones, she speaks truth to the fact that no family is perfect, that no person is all good or all bad. Another message I derived was that siblings may go through same life events, but, process, internalize, and react to them differently.
Relebone reflects on healing, self care, treatment, social media, intergenerational trauma, and death, how it fits in with regards to mental illness.
In relating her story of internal migration, unemployment, displacement, lack of resources and capitalism, it becomes evident how the personal remains political with Black lives.
The text is conversational, deeply personal, honest, and depicts vulnerabilities, testimony that writing the book was a journey that required going back in time, digging deep into, dark, uncomfortable, and panful spaces.
Relebone is well vest in the subject of living with depression. She expands on it with empathy and passion. The content is well researched, amplified by tapping into, and referencing works of various authors, poets, musicians, doctors, and scholars . Toni Morrison, Audrey Lorde, Maya Angelou. Mohale Mashigo, Bessie Head. Miriam Tlali, bel hooks, and Nakane Toure, to mention a few.
'Broken Porcelain' is a significant body of work. It is part of an ongoing endeavour in the mammoth task of demystifying the stigma attached to mental illness, especially in Black communities. It is also a feminist text where the concept of strong Black woman is rejected , because, 'Black girls are not the bricks that the world insists on using to build all things ; or rather, we don't deserve to be. That burdensome labor should be given to others for a change because wow, our backs are broken from exhaustion' page 64
I love how ' Broken Porcelain' is also a story of hope, resilience and a pledge to continue fighting and managing the illness as best as Relebone can, with medical and professional intervention.
People, young and old, will resonate with 'Broken Porcelain', especially those who live with mental illness, or have people in their lives and circles who live with depression. The book is not only a conversation starter, but an entire conversation in itself.
Through Broken Porcelain' I was successfully transported into the mind of one suffering from bipolar depression, and I came out on the other side, a more informed, understanding and empathetic person with better perception and context, on many aspects of mental illness. The essay 'Hello death my old friend', on the yearning to die and generational trauma, will remain with me for the longest of time.
Author, literary enthusiast, mental health advocate, and life coach, Relebone, hails from Tzaneen. She is the host and producer of the mental health podcast 'The Nine Lives Of Depression Survivors', Broken Porcelain is her debut non fiction book.
Because we do not exist in a vacuum, 'Broken Porcelain' is consequently a story about Relebone's parents, siblings, aunts, grandparents and friends. In writing about her love ones, she speaks truth to the fact that no family is perfect, that no person is all good or all bad. Another message I derived was that siblings may go through same life events, but, process, internalize, and react to them differently.
Relebone reflects on healing, self care, treatment, social media, intergenerational trauma, and death, how it fits in with regards to mental illness.
In relating her story of internal migration, unemployment, displacement, lack of resources and capitalism, it becomes evident how the personal remains political with Black lives.
The text is conversational, deeply personal, honest, and depicts vulnerabilities, testimony that writing the book was a journey that required going back in time, digging deep into, dark, uncomfortable, and panful spaces.
Relebone is well vest in the subject of living with depression. She expands on it with empathy and passion. The content is well researched, amplified by tapping into, and referencing works of various authors, poets, musicians, doctors, and scholars . Toni Morrison, Audrey Lorde, Maya Angelou. Mohale Mashigo, Bessie Head. Miriam Tlali, bel hooks, and Nakane Toure, to mention a few.
'Broken Porcelain' is a significant body of work. It is part of an ongoing endeavour in the mammoth task of demystifying the stigma attached to mental illness, especially in Black communities. It is also a feminist text where the concept of strong Black woman is rejected , because, 'Black girls are not the bricks that the world insists on using to build all things ; or rather, we don't deserve to be. That burdensome labor should be given to others for a change because wow, our backs are broken from exhaustion' page 64
I love how ' Broken Porcelain' is also a story of hope, resilience and a pledge to continue fighting and managing the illness as best as Relebone can, with medical and professional intervention.
People, young and old, will resonate with 'Broken Porcelain', especially those who live with mental illness, or have people in their lives and circles who live with depression. The book is not only a conversation starter, but an entire conversation in itself.
Through Broken Porcelain' I was successfully transported into the mind of one suffering from bipolar depression, and I came out on the other side, a more informed, understanding and empathetic person with better perception and context, on many aspects of mental illness. The essay 'Hello death my old friend', on the yearning to die and generational trauma, will remain with me for the longest of time.
Author, literary enthusiast, mental health advocate, and life coach, Relebone, hails from Tzaneen. She is the host and producer of the mental health podcast 'The Nine Lives Of Depression Survivors', Broken Porcelain is her debut non fiction book.
December 29, 2022
Overwhelming when you are going through a mentally challenging episode.
💚"Mornings are the worst. The way the feeling comes upon me like it can only approach in darkness. As if it's come through the night. I wake with it on me. Like paint. It's heavy on my skin, and it's chemical." Yinka's diary entry from AN UNUSUAL GRIEF, Yewande Omotoso.
💚"Mania wasn't fun anymore. It wasn't creative or visionary, it was a mean parody at best, a cheap chemical trick", quote by David Lovelace from REFLECTIONS OF A CONVOLUTED MIND, A journey with my mental health, Dr. Samke J Ngcobo.
💚"The pressure to have it all figured out by your 30th birthday..." said Oluchi in response to her motivation to look inward and document her journey in I, BEFORE WE.
💚"Everyone is depressed in an instagrammable way," BROKEN PORCELAIN, Amental illness journey, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika.
This YOUTH MONTH, don't answer to the call to #IWokeUpLikeThis.
Listen to your inner voice.
Pay attention.
Activate lifelong self-care.
@relebone @_vocalmentality @oluchiwrites @omotosoyewande
💚"Mornings are the worst. The way the feeling comes upon me like it can only approach in darkness. As if it's come through the night. I wake with it on me. Like paint. It's heavy on my skin, and it's chemical." Yinka's diary entry from AN UNUSUAL GRIEF, Yewande Omotoso.
💚"Mania wasn't fun anymore. It wasn't creative or visionary, it was a mean parody at best, a cheap chemical trick", quote by David Lovelace from REFLECTIONS OF A CONVOLUTED MIND, A journey with my mental health, Dr. Samke J Ngcobo.
💚"The pressure to have it all figured out by your 30th birthday..." said Oluchi in response to her motivation to look inward and document her journey in I, BEFORE WE.
💚"Everyone is depressed in an instagrammable way," BROKEN PORCELAIN, Amental illness journey, Relebone Rirhandzu eAfrika.
This YOUTH MONTH, don't answer to the call to #IWokeUpLikeThis.
Listen to your inner voice.
Pay attention.
Activate lifelong self-care.
@relebone @_vocalmentality @oluchiwrites @omotosoyewande
April 30, 2022
I have lived with mental illness for a very long time. I was very disappointed by this read. I found it to be quite cumbersome & draining. It’s as if the writer was trying to make emotional suffering seem profound and poetic. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone suffering with mental illness, it’s depressing.
September 15, 2022
I loved this book because it put into words some of the emotions I couldn't express. Very eye opening also with information about depressive bipolar.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews