Oprahâs Book Club, April, 2020 Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
from Thereâs a Book for That reviewer Debbie:
As we are globally witnessing something only seen before in movies, todayâs social isolation - necessitated by COVID 19 -Â affords us another grand wonder, Hidden Valley Road. If it were fiction this true story would never make it to the screen, for it is not to be believed!
Who wouldnât want to be a fly on the wall to witness the unimaginable story of a family wherein half of the children eventually develop schizophrenia? As if giving birth and raising a family of 12 children isnât crazy in and of itself, the true madness lays in the mental illness afflicting six of the ten boys and what can be considered the neglect of the remaining healthy children. Â This is a narrative of profound sadness, suffering, hurt, abuse, neglect, confusion, tenacity, determination, and ultimately acceptance, forgiveness and tinges of hope.
After reading this book, Iâm about to have Siri dial Dr. Pearlman to cancel therapy altogether because this story makes me rejoice in my trauma as the middle child of three! Â Many might be quick to cast Mimi and Don as villains here, I mean, really, who celebrates the end of WWII for 20 years? Joking (and the not funny subject of mental illness) aside, some of the trauma and abuse in this family is made possible simply because of its size. Â I went from admiring matriarch Mimiâs artistic attributes to anger for myriad, obvious reasons and ultimately ended up applauding her fortitude, strength and unwavering commitment. Like many dads of this time, Don is a minor player and he is barely yellow carded for playing hooky as well as playing the field. Â And itâs no wonder, thank you Dr. Freud (and the world), that Mimi bears the burden of blame. Sadly, we have a deep-rooted history of faulting mothers for everything from supermarket tantrums to autism and schizophrenia.
Based on one New Yorker Magazine piece I read years ago, I falsely believed - and wanted to - that schizophrenia was a treatable disease so long as the sufferer adheres to his pharmaceutical regimen. However, in the span of 75 years Hidden Valley Road provides a fascinating peek into the way one family copes with the devastation and limited choices brought on by a disease of this magnitude and nature as well as a deep enough history of schizophrenia, its study, clinical research and treatment. Sadly, with the coalescence of many factors, Hidden Valley Roadâs saga included, itâs impossible to continue believing in magic pills.
Itâs no wonder I quickly passed this engaging page-turner on to my daughterâs girlfriend and the line of, âcan I read it next?â is quite long! Itâs only apt that Hidden Valley Road be the extraordinary book I grabbed for first during this extraordinary world event.
Watch Oprahâs video announcement here
follow the Book Club Discussion schedule on Facebook here.
