Down Below - Leonora Carrington

In the midst of World War II, Leonora Carrington's lover, Max Ernst was captured by Nazis and died in a concentration camp. The tragic event caused Carrington's mind to unravel and she ended up being confined to a mental institution. Carrington's memoir is a slim volume and a compelling and horrific portrait of a woman's ordeal after losing a loved one to war. Written in a surreal but accessible prose, it is an essential account that takes you inside the mind of a woman unhinged by tragedy.