The Literary Lifeline : Bibliotherapy and the Transforming Power of Reading

The Literary Lifeline is a tribute to the transporting and consoling power of reading. In this insightful and moving book, Kevin Harvey affirms the importance that language and literature can play in our lives, reminding us of reading’s enduring, and sometimes surprising, ability to help us through times of illness, grief, and uncertainty.

Interweaving fragments from his own experience of reading, Harvey takes us on a fascinating tour of reading for therapeutic effect, exploring the rise of shared reading and other uses of bibliotherapy in various social and personal contexts. He argues, through a series of compelling stories and life experiences, that reading not only benefits physical and emotional wellbeing, but that it also humanises the care process, particularly in institutional settings where personhood can be threatened or undermined completely.

Whether he’s writing about the drama and delight of reading aloud to other people, the humane magic of the public library, or the loss of his beloved brother and his improvised attempt to read through grief, Harvey offers us an engaging take on the solace of reading and the gift of the written word.

Entertaining, highly accessible, and teeming with illuminating observations and ideas, The Literary Lifeline is a book that will appeal to both scholars and general readers alike.