‘It’s heart breaking and heart making. Just beautiful.’  

Ed Le Brocq (prev. Ed Ayres), ABC Classic

The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness is a groundbreaking, large-scale multi-modal project weaving together the worlds of literature, music and visual art in the poignant story of one boy’s journey into mental illness. Readers and listeners are offered a mesmerising visual and auditory tour de force about beauty and resilience, society and belief, that at its heart expresses hope for a greater understanding and embracing of difference.

The narrative unfolds around the metaphor of a tree, growing within the boy, whose flower is ecstasy and whose fruit is sadness. 

This luminous, multi-faceted work is inspired by the experiences of its award-winning creator, Matt Ottley, who has lived with bipolar disorder all his life and been hospitalised on numerous occasions in mental health facilities. Having personally experienced the prejudices and challenges that come from suffering a mental illness, Matt’s aim is to offer a sensory insight through words, music and images into the experiences of those who suffer from such debilitating illnesses, particularly psychosis.

A masterful allegorical tale for the 21^st century.

Thank you for your support of this work. For international postage rates please contact me via email prior to ordering.

A work for young adults and adults.
Hardback with CD and digital download link to the music included in the book.
Written, illustrated and music composition by Matt Ottley (with guest  composition by Alf Demasi)