Patrick Tobin was born in Ireland but raised in the St Anns area of Nottingham in the 1970s. He has now released his fascinating memoirs titled Homesake. Initially published as an ebook on Kindle, it chronicles a life of dealing with a schizo-affective disorder. Periods of his childhood were spent at the Thorneywood Adolescent Unit on Porchester Road. His own father was also treated at Mapperley Hospital for his own psychiatric problems. Patrick’s memoirs are a highly personal insight into his condition.
His story starts in Tipperary Ireland in the 1960s. A local rogue meets a pious young catholic woman. They form an unlikely relationship and Patrick is born in 1965. An ordinary child that would grow into an extraordinary life.
His father runs away to London but he is tracked him down in order to reunite the family. The Catholic Church provides them with a fresh start in Nottingham. The relationship is doomed to fail. Before it does, his father provides nothing, except drunken and psychotic humiliation of his son.
By the time his father has gone for good, the damage has been done. Patrick is a disturbed child, unable to understand what is wrong with him.
Still dealing with his schizo-affective condition, Patrick was encouraged by his psycho-therapist to record his memories. Homesake is taken from the notes written by him as part of his therapy.
Homesake is a raw and honest account of a disturbed life, yet humourous at the same time. This is Misery Lit without the misery.
“I was born in a state of confusion and schizophrenia came naturally to me.
From my earliest memory of kicking a ball in the backyard of our home on Hudson Street, to a life riddled with psychiatric institutions, violence, alcoholism, promiscuity and utter, utter madness.
Why me? In this book are some answers that I want to share with you. I also want it to make you smile. There is hope.
My father never wanted us. He was out of control. Although he terrified me, I loved his strange mixture of alcohol fuelled mayhem and psychotic entertainment. He was a Loony Tunes cartoon character. His unpredictability combined with my mother’s Irish catholic discipline to create a perfect storm. I created an inner world of escapist fantasy to anaesthetize the effects of the mayhem.
I was stifled at a time when I should have flourished and I was beginning to split by the age of five. When my father left us a couple of years later, I was a disturbed child who never got over him leaving.
Welcome to the world on my stubborn terms.”
Patrick Tobin 2019
Homesake is published by Porchester Press and can be purchased at a pre-order price of £2.50. Patrick Tobin is also on facebook as https://www.facebook.com/patricktobinauthor/