Black Rainbow is the powerful first‎-person story of one woman‎'‎s struggle with depression and how she managed to recover from it through the power of poetry‎.‎ In 1997‎,‎ Oxford graduate‎,‎ working mother and Times journalist Rachel Kelly went from feeling mildly anxious to being completely unable to function within the space of just three days‎.‎ Prescribed antidepressants by her doctor‎,‎ and supported by her husband and her family‎,‎ Rachel slowly began to get better‎,‎ but her anxiety levels remained high‎,‎ and six years later‎,‎ as a stay‎-at‎-home mother‎,‎ she suffered a second collapse even worse than the first‎.‎ Throughout both of Rachel‎'‎s periods of severe depression‎,‎ the healing power of poetry became an integral part of her recovery‎.‎ As someone who had always loved poetry‎,‎ it became something for Rachel to cling on to in times of need ‎- from repeating short mantras to learning and reciting entire poems ‎- these words and verses became a powerful force for change in her life‎.‎ In Black Rainbow Rachel analyses why poetry can be one answer to depression‎,‎ and the book contains a selected 40 of the poems that provided Rachel with solace and comfort during her breakdown and recovery‎.‎ At a time when mental health problems and depression are becoming more common‎,‎ and the stigma around such issues is finally being lifted‎,‎ this book offers a lifeline for anyone seeking to understand depression and seek new ways to treat it‎.‎ Poetry is free‎,‎ has no side‎-effects and‎,‎ as Rachel can attest‎,‎ ‎'‎prescribing words instead of pills‎'‎ can be an incredibly powerful remedy‎.‎