Vera author shares struggles
VERA writer Ann Cleeves has opened up about her late husband’s struggle with depression.
Birdwatcher Tim Cleeves died on December 16 after being admitted to hospital for a heart condition.
Family and friends filled the chapel at Whitley Bay Crematorium to pay tribute to him at an emotional service on January 2.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the author of the Shetland stories talked about the struggle of watching her beloved husband’s fight for his mental health.
She told host Lauren Laverne: “There were times where I would be lying next to Tim in bed and it felt like I was lying next to a stranger. I didn’t know him.
“I remember going in (to hospital), and one of the charge nurses said ‘don’t worry we’ll get him back for you,’ and not really believing her.
“But they did get him back and he was properly diagnosed.
“There were times where he thought he was Jesus and he could cure the neighbour’s cat. But they did get him back.”
The couple met on Fair Isle in the Shetland Islands, where Tim had travelled to as a birdwatcher.
While Ann had little initial interest in the birds, she was smitten by the island and the people who lived there – and most significantly by Tim.
The budding crime writer’s first novel, A Bird in the Hand, was set in the world of the ‘twitchers,’ the most dedicated of bird watchers.
The couple, who had daughters Sarah and Ruth, had been settled for many years in the Whitley Bay area.