Hidden Valley Road - Robert Kolker

Biography

Rating: 7.5/10

While many families air their secrets and shame for all to see, many more bury and disavow them. Keeping them hidden not only from others, but from themselves.

To a stranger glancing from the outside, the cover photo of this book might suggest a family brimming with the picturesque and idyllic, but that was as far removed from the truth as you can imagine. This literary bequest depicts how twelve siblings, half of them schizophrenic, and their parents navigate the illness and the crushed promise of the American Dream. Each individual in this family is brought to life by this author, a herculean feat given their sheer number and the complexities of their stories.

Interwoven with the familial is a chronicle of how the science behind this illness evolved through institutionalization, shock therapy, medication and the search for genetic markers of the disease. This amalgam allows the reader to be both enlightened through a very personal lens and engaged in the intellectual debates. Nature versus nurture? Genetics or trauma? Brain chemistry or bad parenting?

A careful reconstruction of the past from a gifted writer that infuses every moment with empathy while also portraying the ways in which mental illness can leave destruction and shame in its wake.

Footnote: This author applies a deft hand to illustrate that the burying of secrets only paralyze and imprison their keeper.