The World I Fell Out Of (Paperback)

'Reading this will change you.' - Andrew Marr

'A generous, life-changing book ... some of the most insightful writing on what it means to be human that I have ever read.' - Clover Stroud, author of The Wild Other

'It's beautiful - full of love and light - and an exploration into not only how, but why we survive, despite everything.' - Christie Watson, author of The Language of Kindness

'She is perceptive - and lacerating - about the pressures felt by disabled people to be cured, to put up and shut up, to remain upbeat. That isn't always easy, or possible. Cocktail parties are hell in a wheelchair: you're trapped at fart height and can't make subtle getaways to the ladies'...Above all, the book is a plea to those still living with well-functioning bodies to be aware of what they have. To love themselves and relish their ability to dance, run, go to the lavatory without help. With serious disability can come wisdom and perspective, and Reid passionately urges fellow women to set aside their self-loathing and "get out there and live".' - The Sunday Times

'The World I Fell Out Of is a vital, profound story shot through with insight and revelations. Melanie Reid has written the most important book of 2019.' - Susanna Forrest, author of If Wishes Were Horses

'Written with uncompromising candour, both tragic and darkly comic by turns ... It is a beautifully written memoir which also touches on the general (and unfair) perceptions of disabled people and gives an insightful look into the psychology of disability. She offers a wheelchair-user's view of the world - from once being the tallest in a room full of men to now being at "fart level". She is upfront about the expectations laid on the disabled by the able-bodied - to be fighting the illness, to say they are fine, to be coping. No self-pity, no tears of frustration. She admits to times of being nearly "washed away with despair" and yet, incredibly, sought to rebuild her strength enough to get back in the saddle, both literally and metaphorically.' - Wee Review