After discovering that Sarah Cornwell had been selected as the most recent screenwriter for the prospective movie adaptation of The Dragonriders of Pern (Anne McCaffrey), I picked up this debut novel (a library book) in order to gain some insight into her writing style. 
 While I can appreciate the occasional fictional drama, I don't read them much -- this novel was not an enjoyable read for me, although there were moments of interest in her story about the effects of bipolar disorder on multiple generations of a particular family. For the most part, I did like the author's writing style and the way she split the different time periods (on occasion, confusing) which, in some way for me at least, almost emulated the separation that existed between family members and the highs and lows of the various manic episodes that occurred. I was surprised that I had little sympathy for any of the characters; although I could relate to the childhood lifestyle of the narrator, for the most part I disliked her. I will not be reading this book again. 
 Admittedly, my usual form of book reading is solely for entertainment, with a tendency toward science fiction and fantasy genres, and infrequent forays into mystery, horror and sometimes art, history and nature studies. This book does not fit into any of those categories, in my opinion...so please take my review under that advisement. I would not have picked up "What I Had Before I Had You" for an entertaining read if not for my curiosity about the author.