Out of the Woods

Book published in 2022 | Fiction

A personal review of ‘Out of the Woods’ by Neikehienuo Mepfhu-o, a novel that explores mental illness, family bonds and the path towards healing.

During a recent trip to Nagaland, I decided to pick up a few books by local authors, and Out of the Woods by Neikehienuo Mepfhu-o was among them. One of the main reasons I chose it was the blurb. There was no tiptoeing around the subject matter, no promises of happy endings or redemption, and no attempt to disguise the fact that this would be a difficult read. And it is.

A Difficult but Important Read

Out of the Woods is a book that may be triggering for readers who have dealt with mental health issues – themselves or as support for families. Because Neikehienuo Mepfhu-o captures the emotional turmoil not only of the afflicted but the immediate family too. It took me a good while to read through the book as it brought back memories from the days when I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, the battle that ensued and the struggles that my immediate family, especially my parents faced in the interim.

The Story

Neikehienuo Mepfhu-o’s Out of the Woods is the story of a family struggling to cope with the trials and tribulations that village life brings with it, while also grappling with the trauma of caring for a growing teen who is struggling to find his place in the real world that collides with the alternate world he lives in. The book traverses through the life of this family that is caught in an endless, harsh loop of loss, pain, trauma, the struggle to find the cause behind the boy’s ‘behaviour’ and the eventual discovery of a path towards healing.

The Highs & Lows

One of the highlights of the book is the strong hold the writer has on the language (which could be attributed to her being an educator based in Kohima and to her having won an award for a previous book). The author uses simple language as effectively as a painter uses a paintbrush – her words transport you from the eerily peaceful and happy alternate world the boy lives in, while effectively drawing out a picture of the home and world he shares with his family. She uses words to explain to readers the thoughts and emotions that rush through the boy’s mind, in vivid contrast to the helpless anguish and frustration of the family, bound together by their love for him. What is disturbing – and true – is that it is this very love and the resultant uncertainty that govern their lives and threaten to break them apart. The book is a deep dive into the mind of a young boy dealing with an undiagnosed mental health disorder.

I keep writing ‘the boy’ because that is what he is through the book – ‘the boy’ – and that, in my opinion, works to create an awareness that the teenager and the family could be anyone, in any part of the world.

The relatives, the villagers, the pastor and other sources that claim they can help the child act as a commentary on the society’s struggles to accept the reality of mental health issues. This would, perhaps, be more pronounced in pockets that continue to remain relatively disconnected from the rest of the parts of society that remain relatively disconnected from conversations around mental health and awareness.

…the teenager and the family could be anyone, in any part of the world

So, does this mean Out of the Woods is without its follies? The very strength of the author works against the book – the words. By the time you reach the halfway mark, you may be hit by the ‘this is repetitive’ thought because it is for several pages. Thankfully, there is a shift from the normal to the parallel reality, which shocks the reader out of the lull.

Another aspect that did not work for me is the ending – the journey from the intervention to seeking medical help, and the manner in which the doctor explains the situation, as well as the boy’s return to ‘normalcy’, are not entirely satisfying from a reader’s point of view. Personally, tighter editing could definitely have helped this book. However, for the sheer gumption required to write an entire novel that depicts the emotional trauma and exhaustion of mental health, Neikehienuo Mepfhu-o’s Out of the Woods is definitely a book I’d suggest you pick up.