Annie Sertich: How Not to Kill Yourself for 30 Days... and the Next 330

Informed by a confessional, therapy culture that's yet to properly take hold in the UK, Annie Sertich's compelling account of seriously contemplating suicide is nevertheless surprisingly relatable. A graduate of LA's prolific Groundlings improv theatre, she's had a successful career as a bit-part player in a string of top sitcoms and as a (dental) model, but still gets excited when she sees the likes of Luke Wilson and Ben Folds in her local stores and coffee shops.

Unfortunately, her personal life has been more tumultuous and her ex-husband's infidelity drove her to the brink of drastic action. A friend made her sign a contract promising not to kill herself for 30 days and she recounts that journey as a step-by-step recovery.

If that sounds relentlessly grim, it's not. Sertich never underplays the despair, numbness and anger she felt as her marriage disintegrated. But she's as breezily funny as she is frank and there's a lot of familial warmth and the love of friends woven through her tale to leaven the darker episodes.

Sending up her self-help strategies as well as the bullying mean voice inside of her, Sertich proves herself a gifted character actor. Her portrayal of her friend trying to keep her alive while neglecting her child is blackly comic.

Jaw-dropping in at least one instance but rarely a tough listen, it's an emotional, entertaining and ultimately optimistic monologue that doesn't suggest Sertich's life henceforth will be a bed of roses, containing allusions to further issues in her family that might inform subsequent hours. Hopefully, we'll get to hear about them.