The Deleted World by Tomas Transtromer is a very short book of poems. They’re all beautiful and dark, yet the reader is always able to glimpse a light flickering at the end of the poem.
Ordinary People by Judith Guest always does the trick for me. It’s about a young man, Con, who is depressed and attempts suicide after the accidental boating death of his brother. But as the novel progresses, Con learns how to deal with his feelings and in the end, he finds love and a way out of his pain. His therapist is also a wonderful character who helps him a great deal.
While Ordinary People may be depressing at first, I find that the end is full of hope and it shows that depression can lift and fly away, and that the darkness can, and does, end.
xo