Although this is titled as a memoir it is far from being so. Yes, it is the story of a person’s life but this was moreover a journey into the mind of someone who has not always had things go his way yet somehow despite some very low points, he manages to get where he wants to be - wherever that may be.

Rhik Samadder is an accomplished writer but few will know the back story about how he came through some pretty tumultuous times in life. And they are clearly tumultuous and I would say extremely pertinent days.

From abuse to the failed careers (he admits so himself) he is able to weave a story that may not engage with all readers. I don’t think that was his intention though.

He just needed to tell you what he went through in his own original and comedic fashion. It is up to you then to try to piece together the whys and hows.

Friendships, hospitals, an interview with Ice Cube and religion are inter-linked showing how Rhik finds himself annoyed at the smallest things and seems to be heading for a breakdown at any moment. It is both a little amusing and worrying.

At one point he tells us, “I’ve always been paralysed by big decisions. I lived in constant suspicion that disaster lived next door and sharpening her knives through the night.  I fretted constantly, dealing in counterfactuals and what-ifs and hidden costs, feeling trapped by my own life, trying to chart its perfect course.”

There are a number of extremely poignant moments from describing how he reacted when his father died to those almost insignificant times with his mum., a woman who herself went through so much to simply raise Rhik.

His mother begins as the centre point but her sacrifices are revisited at throughout the book.

There is, of course, the familiar background to his culture and growing up as an Asian in Britain and battling against what all that had to offer. But thankfully he doesn’t need to dwell there too much. There are far more pressing things to discuss like life at university and a father he never really knew until he had passed on.

At the backdrop to all of this are Rhik’s own insecurities and mental health and his attempts to tackle serious bouts of depression. He describes how he would wear long sleeves to hide his self-harming and also points out to others who are in this horrible place never to ever think they are totally alone and should not get help.

At the end of each chapter he writes to those individuals who have in some way helped to shape his mindset. The letter to his abuser makes for some uncomfortable reading only because by that time we are beginning to see the many facets of Rhik’s personality.

After a dissection of a person’s life and loves you would expect at the very end to know who Rhik is. We don’t and that in many ways makes this an intriguing and insightful memoir…I mean story.

The hardback is published 8th August and be purchased here