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Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

Robert Kolker (Goodreads Author)

4.14 · Rating details · 39,298 ratings · 4,548 reviews

The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned th ...more

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Hardcover, 400 pages

Published April 7th 2020 by Doubleday Books

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Apr 12, 2020 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Meet the Galvin family......

THIS IS A MIND BLOWING STORY!!!!

FASCINATING - UNBELIEVABLE-
RIVETING-
INFORMATIVE-
HEARTBREAKING!

This is one of those non-fiction books that often reads like fiction. It’s incredibly intimate....in details, descriptions, character development, storytelling, and facts.
It just seems so inconceivable that ‘this much’ mental illness could hit one nuclear family!
By the end of this book - I felt I knew each of the fourteen family members well - by name, their interests, s ...more

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Apr 04, 2020 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it

Shelves: nfr-2020

The odds of reading two books at the same time, where both families have twelve children, has to be high. That, though is there only commanality. I've never read anything like this, it was both hard to read because if subject matter and well done. Mimi and Don Kohler wanted the American dream, a large family, happy marriage, happy life. After WWII, Done work with the Air Force brought them to California, where at first the family prospered. Ten boys were born in succession, followed finally by t ...more

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Jun 15, 2020 Beverly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Scourge of Schizophrenia

This frightening and seemingly unfathomable, true story is about a family with 12 children in which 6 of the boys develop schizophrenia. So much suffering is hard to take in. For not only did the sick boys endure unbelievable hardships, the well were left to take care of themselves. Parents of one sick child ignore their healthy children, but when there are so many, this behaviour is a lot closer to neglect. Time and time again, reading this, I grew angry at the pare ...more

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Jul 23, 2020 JanB rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, 2020-reads, non-fiction

“For a family, schizophrenia is, primarily, a felt experience, as if the foundation of the family is permanently tilted in the direction of the sick family member. Even if just one child has schizophrenia, everything about the internal logic of that family changes.”

Few of us have been untouched by mental illness, either in our own families or in one we know. Most families with one mentally ill child struggles. Having six is unfathomable.

Between 1945 and 1965, Mimi and Don Galvin had 12 children, “For a family, schizophrenia is, primarily, a felt experience, as if the foundation of the family is permanently tilted in the direction of the sick family member. Even if just one child has schizophrenia, everything about the internal logic of that family changes.”

Few of us have been untouched by mental illness, either in our own families or in one we know. Most families with one mentally ill child struggles. Having six is unfathomable.

Between 1945 and 1965, Mimi and Don Galvin had 12 children, 10 boys and two girls. They were the picture of a successful and beautiful family, but what was happening behind closed doors was anything but. Eventually, 6 of their 10 boys were affected by schizophrenia. The average age of onset is late teens/early 20s so by the time the oldest son exhibited symptoms, their family was complete.

The search for an explanation and a cure became all-encompassing. The lack of knowledge in the medical and psychological community and what this family endured, especially the mother, was heartbreaking and infuriating. The prevailing wisdom at the time was nurture (especially the mother’s role) trumped nature. The children who were well were profoundly affected as well, especially the girls.

Interspersed amid the personal story of this family, the author takes us through the history of schizophrenia and the scientific advances that have been made, and he does it in an accessible way. The Gavin family, with so many affected, was instrumental into the study of the disease.

There is no happy ending, for there is no cure and the treatment was often as devastating as the illness itself. However, the author treats the subject with compassion and understanding which sheds a light on mental illness and its devastating effects.

I’m certain that every family so affected by mental illness has a different story to tell, and it must be remembered that this is simply the Gavin family’s story, and not indicative of all families with a mentally ill member. Each son’s disease presented differently. The Gavin family had extenuating circumstances with the sheer number of children affected and the veil of secrecy, denial, and dysfunction in the home. But what family dealing with their circumstances wouldn’t be dysfunctional? We’ve come a long way in the field of mental illness, but not long enough.

I applaud the family members who were incredibly brave in allowing the author access and allowing such a painful personal story to be told in the hope of furthering understanding and removing the veil of secrecy and shame that often accompanies mental illness. ...more

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Dec 22, 2019 Tammy rated it really liked it

This is a harrowing and intricate nonfiction account of an all-American family of twelve (ten boys and two girls) born between 1945 and 1965. I can’t begin to imagine having a family of this size much less cope with the onset and aftermath of six of the boys’ schizophrenia. There is abuse among family members as well as what is now considered to be abusive treatment of the afflicted. The Galvin family was instrumental in the research of brain disease given the number of diagnoses and misdiagnose ...more

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Apr 08, 2020 Jessica Woodbury rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, arc-provided-by-publisher

3.5 stars. Fascinating, readable, and depressing as hell. Unfortunately this fell a little short for me in a few ways.

At first, the hook of this book is enough to draw your attention. Just one family, with twelve children, where half of them have diagnoses of schizophrenia. When you hear it, it's is such a strange and unusual thing that you do not see it as real experiences. Kolker's main goal here is to change that, to make you see the real impact the illness has on people, how it affects them 3.5 stars. Fascinating, readable, and depressing as hell. Unfortunately this fell a little short for me in a few ways.

At first, the hook of this book is enough to draw your attention. Just one family, with twelve children, where half of them have diagnoses of schizophrenia. When you hear it, it's is such a strange and unusual thing that you do not see it as real experiences. Kolker's main goal here is to change that, to make you see the real impact the illness has on people, how it affects them over days and years. He intersperses their story with the history of the scientific research into schizophrenia. Both stories are interesting and well-written, but for me both were flawed.

The family's story is hampered in ways Kolker cannot really help. While there are 14 members of the Galvin family, it's quite clear that only 3 spent considerable time with Kolker. Many have died. And it's absolutely understandable why many of the siblings who are not schizophrenic would have had enough of the whole thing and not want to be extensively interviewed, but as a reader I kept expecting the story to open up outside of the three women in it, except it rarely did. An even bigger obstacle that Kolker cannot help is that the schizophrenic siblings are not generally capable of providing their own point of view, as they are suffering not only from their illness but from the serious toll the treatments have taken on them. But it is a badly needed counterpoint. It is hard to see a story about mental illness that does not include any voices from the mentally ill. I think it could have benefited from more of an effort to present to the reader what their experiences were like through research and interviews with other schizophrenic people. I certainly would have appreciated it, the ill siblings often feel more like objects to be managed than people, and it often left a bad taste in my mouth.

I also found that the emphasis on the mother and two daughters was sometimes too bogged down with their history and grudges. Again, these are all entirely understandable, but much of the end of the book is made up almost entirely of the daughters' attempts to work through their anger from their childhood. They have suffered immensely and I am full of sympathy for them, but when we dive into their specific ways of coping with these old traumas, the book can lose focus. It also made me feel weird about the mother, Mimi, who is seen by the daughters as having prioritized their ill brothers over their own needs, and this is generally presented as the factual account. We find later that Mimi is rather determined not to present her own point of view, but it does make it feel lopsided. I cannot imagine what kind of choices she was presented with, and choosing to continue to care for her ill sons was certainly a choice that had consequences, but it's unclear what other options this family had. Every choice was a difficult one and relying so heavily on the daughters' accounts pulls us out of that impossible situation.

And for the last of my nitpicks, it is again no fault of Kolker's, but the science part of the narrative is quite interesting, but we find ourselves in the sad state at the end of the book where while significant changes in approach and thinking have been made, the way we treat schizophrenia has hardly changed at all and it will likely be decades before those changes come about. I think maybe it was my fault as a reader, expecting there to be some big shift around the next corner, but it could also be the way the book is structured and presented.

Yes I know this has been one of those reviews that is mostly negative even though my feelings on the book are mostly positive, but I am confident this book has enough people singing its praises that I feel its important to say them. I'd also like to note that Kolker often refers to those with schizophrenia as "mad" or "insane" and those who do not have it as "sane," which was not my favorite. There is also a really really really significant amount of domestic violence and child molestation in this book, if those are difficult topics for you, I suspect this book will be Too Much. ...more

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Nov 25, 2020 Jen rated it really liked it

Yikes. This was a disturbing read on so many levels and so dense. It’s a work of nonfiction. Mimi and Don Galvin decided to have 12 kids. Why???? Six of those children, all male, developed schizophrenia. Yet, the parents were too busy trying to be the Joneses rather than addressing what was going on in the household - beyond the mental illness. Abuse - physical and sexual. With Mimi defending the sick ones at the cost of alienating the healthier children.

The parents did try to get the boys help ...more

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Aug 24, 2020 Beata rated it really liked it

This was, I think, my first book tackling one of the most mysterious diseases, schizophrenia. Mr Kolker explains the ways it was treated in the past in a most accessible way, at least I, not belonging to a medical profession, understood most of it, which does not mean I remembered everything as there is a lot of information, including names of the doctors and those of the medicaments.
Mr Kolker took a sad history of one American family, the Galvins, living in Colorado, as the background for his i ...more

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Jan 01, 2021 Carol rated it it was amazing

Shelves: e-audible, c-spgs, psychology, non-fiction

****4.5 STARS****

The story follows the gut-wrenching odyssey of the Galvin family. Don and Mimi Galvin had ten boys and two girls between 1945 and 1965. Six of the couple's sons were diagnosed with schizophrenia. The author skillfully weaves the Galvins’ story with the history of schizophrenia and its devastating effects on both the family and the afflicted.

Even without the diagnosis of schizophrenia, their personal family story was intimate and spellbinding for me. Elements of the narrative re ...more

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May 26, 2020 Jeanette (Again) rated it liked it

Shelves: audio, biography-memoir, america, nonfiction

WORST. PARENTS. EVER.
This book was a bit of a chaotic hot mess at the beginning, and I almost gave up on it a couple of times. The author meanders through long descriptions of sewing shut the eyes of birds for falconry, then into tangents about the history of studying mental illness, and a whole bunch of other stuff I've forgotten. I stuck with it because I wanted to know about the family, and it did get more coherent after awhile.

It's not the done thing here in America to tell people how many ...more

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Apr 16, 2020 Olive Fellows (abookolive) rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, psychology

See my full review over on booktube: https://youtu.be/Y7qzkEtubH4 ...more

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Dec 08, 2020 Jen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

5⭐ This was an incredible read. At so many points, I had to keep reminding myself that this was non-fiction and became emotional reading all that the people in this family went through.

Robert Kolker examines the Galvin family in this book and interspersed through their entire life story is the story of the developments and changes in the study of schizophrenia through those same years. It goes back and forth, chapter after chapter, reading the clinical history alongside the history of this fami 5⭐ This was an incredible read. At so many points, I had to keep reminding myself that this was non-fiction and became emotional reading all that the people in this family went through.

Robert Kolker examines the Galvin family in this book and interspersed through their entire life story is the story of the developments and changes in the study of schizophrenia through those same years. It goes back and forth, chapter after chapter, reading the clinical history alongside the history of this family and that balance really connected for me.

Don and Mimi Galvin had 12 children between 1945 and 1965 and 6 of them developed schizophrenia. This was a tough read because although the positive is that the family's samples have contributed greatly to research and progress with understanding schizophrenia, they were real people who lived through many challenging successive stages of understanding and outlook and judgement of the illness. The concern over treatment of the boys who were showing symptoms and the stigma of the minds of the time who labelled the schizophrenogenic mother as the cause were just a few of the factors that remarkably led these boys to live at home in a house that, although one they presented as cookie cutter and one with upwardly mobile parents, was behind the scenes already a bit off and tumultuous. The youngest of the 12 children were the only two girls and I really felt for their terrible, honest stories of coming to terms with the scars that they now bear as the "healthy" ones who themselves did not have schizophrenia but were very marked and harmed by the illness in horrible ways.

The author interviewed all of the surviving family members and tried to present as authentic a picture as he could and it was both compelling and heart wrenching as well as being insightful and medically informative. There is so much more I can say about this and I had much discussion with my family about the interesting things that I learned reading the book.

I +++ recommend this for anyone interested in reading about schizophrenia and its history and connection to this incredible family 💓 ...more

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Oct 26, 2019 Lolly K Dandeneau rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Before my review, I just want to say this book left a lump in my throat, it was an emotional journey. I felt it in my gut and wish I could reach out and support every single one of the Galvin children, parents too.

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'Mary’s mother is well practiced at laughing off moments like these, behaving as if nothing is strange. To do anything else would be the same as admitting that she lacks any real control over the situation- that she cannot understand w Before my review, I just want to say this book left a lump in my throat, it was an emotional journey. I felt it in my gut and wish I could reach out and support every single one of the Galvin children, parents too.

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'Mary’s mother is well practiced at laughing off moments like these, behaving as if nothing is strange. To do anything else would be the same as admitting that she lacks any real control over the situation- that she cannot understand what is happening in her house, much less how to stop it.'

Hidden Valley Road is the story of a family, created by Don and Mimi Galvin (ten boys and two girls) picked apart by the ravages of schizophrenia, a disease that takes the foundation of the family and ‘permanently tilted it in the direction of the sick family member’. What happens when it appears in several family members? When, like the fear of it’s contagion, the parents aim a laser focus on each child afraid they may be next? How does this attention harm every sibling? How can the parents possibly dodge the terror of, ‘who will be next’ ? Is it any surprise that fear of odd behavior in their own children will follow the siblings later in life?

In the beginning, Mimi and Don envisioned a life full of ‘limitless hope and confidence’. Don was ambitious, and war bound after joining the Marine Corp Reserves, before heading out near Okinawa where he was to be stationed during the war in 1945, he married Mimi. While he was away, Mimi gave birth to their firstborn son. Soon followed more children, born while her husband came and went for his career, at times he was home from Georgetown (finishing his degree) and Rhode Island to the Navy’s General Line School. Focused always on his career, which came first, Mimi was left either trailing after him with the children or awaiting his return alone with their offspring. She with dreams of a lawyer husband and a life where she could raise their brood alongside their family in New York, bided time until the war was over. Don was using the military as a means to his end, a career in law or better yet, political science. The end of his service came but he reneged on their plan and instead joined the Air Force, which lead them surprisingly to Colorado Springs.

Despite Mimi’s disappointment and after many shed tears, she began to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. Together, she and Don discovered a passion for falconry, one which they shared with their boys, coming of age in the 1950’s. (I found this fascinating). Mimi rushed headfirst into raising her children all on her own without the help of nannies, family anyone. She would raise her boys to be cultured through art, music, nature and as more children came (if Don had his way Mimi would be pregnant forever) she worked even harder at being the best mother anyone could be; their clan would be the ‘model’ American family. Her passion for motherhood knew no bounds! It fed her ego, there was a special pride in ‘being known as a mother would could easily accomplish such a thing’, raising such a brood with unwavering determination and love. Why such a large family, well if it made Don happy, it was her joy to provide more offspring. Personally, as a mother with two children I found her enthusiasm and energy incredible, I get tired just thinking about it.

The dynamic in the couples marriage changed, Don’s career in intelligence yet another thing to keep Mimi at a distance, while she remained the rock for the children through the years, the one left to supervise, a ‘happy warrior’. But her dream of perfect children, everyone in line, the ‘model American family’ was about to shatter. Battling the common childhood illnesses like chicken pox, everyone knowing their chores, cooking, cleaning, for a large family is a mean feat but battling a little understood mental illness in a time where there wasn’t much compassion to be found in anyone straying from the social norms was a terrible mark against you. When the cracks first appeared in the eldest, most adored son (the namesake Don Jr.) who often watched his siblings, bullying them, setting them up against each other, it was largely ignored. The busy family didn’t have time for squabbles, the father’s favorite was believed. Even when he would smash dishes, and act out with violence, Don and Mimi behaved as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, confusing and horrifying the other children. Something was wrong, no one knew it more than Donald himself. He would take the mental disturbances with him away to college, where it would soon show itself.

With the two older boys eventually out of the house, and Don Sr’s professional prospects, order had to be maintained, there could be no admittance of anything being off kilter. Such a thing is a stain that could ruin Don’s career and the Galvin’s social standing. Maybe the boys wreaked havoc, ending in bruises when they were home visiting, but ‘boys will be boys’ and need to become men and stand on their own. Then Don Jr fell apart, again and again, and it was no longer easy to deny something was wrong, not when it could no longer be hidden from the public too. He would never climb out of his illness, despite medicine, science, doctors best efforts. Worse, the abuse their daughters suffered in silences, denial. The embarrassment of their brother’s illness a thing they felt ashamed about and resentful of.

I can’t do justice in a review, it’s hard to summarize what the entire Galvin family went through, the hope, the fear, the denial and sexual abuse. I think about those decades, where mothers were often blamed for any sign of mental decline, where shame was all that mental illness bought you. When turning to doctors often did more harm than good, even now medication that is meant to help navigate mental illnesses do the body, all it’s organs so much harm, but there aren’t many alternatives beyond avoiding medication altogether and that leaves you exactly in the same abyss you started from. It victimizes the person coping with the illness, but you can’t ignore the voices of the family members that are forced to cope with the illness too. Children that are neglected because the illness consumes so much energy within the family, the physicality of it. Science isn’t moving fast enough, despite leaps like studying the Galvins and why schizophrenia claimed some of the children and not others. It feels too late for the Galvins in many ways. As much as we make judgments about Mimi and Don’s attempt to pretend everything is normal, how can we not empathize, imagining being in their place. Parenting is difficult enough, much of what we deny is fear motivated, comes form a place of love, and sure sometimes our own egos.

I’m always drawn to stories and studies about mental illness. I have a schizophrenic uncle, my own son is on the autism spectrum (he isn’t the only one in our extended family)… but for my uncle, I have seen how people fear mental illness, the hopelessness of my grandmother (when she was still alive) and yet immense love and support for her son who would not take his medication, and lives the life of a loner, often taken advantage of and there is nothing anyone can do. There is so much we do not know, and it’s hard for many to trust doctors when some of their treatments have done more harm than good. It can feel overwhelming and hopeless, your choices limited. Of course we aim to fix things, who wants to watch their family member suffer. It is reality still that with diseases people often find public support, compassion yet where there is mental illness most reactions are fear based and the public often judges those coping with it a ‘lost cause’. It’s the terrible result of little education. Doctors can only treat as well as the scientific discoveries and breakthroughs, but behind the illness are very real human beings.

This book is heartbreaking, and I have great admiration for all the Galvin children (those still alive are full grown adults now, of course). This is really their story. They own it, they live in the aftermath and each makes choices based on their own emotional compass. Their story broke my heart and it will stay with me. Yes, read it.

Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Doubleday Books ...more

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Apr 21, 2020 Canadian Reader rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2020, nonfiction

Kolker presents an interesting enough story about a large Colorado family plagued by schizophrenia. He also explores some of the research that has been done on this fairly common but devastating mental illness that affects one in one hundred people. Unfortunately, Kolker is not the reliable, skilled writer the material required, and he appears not to have been assisted by an attentive, knowledgeable editor . The book is too long and the writing is sometimes careless. (For example, at one point t ...more

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Apr 16, 2020 Tooter rated it it was amazing

5 Stars!

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Jan 06, 2020 Donna Davis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, reviewed, net-galley, blogged, arc-doubleday

Happy anniversary, Doubleday. This is my thirtieth review for you.

Big thanks go to Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy.

I wanted to read Kolker’s book because so little is written about schizophrenia for the general readership. My best friend’s older brother was schizophrenic, and sometimes she would phone me crying and whispering from the floor of her bedroom closet. The bro—let’s call him Marco--was a large person, over six feet tall with a towering red afro that made him appear even Happy anniversary, Doubleday. This is my thirtieth review for you.

Big thanks go to Net Galley and Doubleday for the review copy.

I wanted to read Kolker’s book because so little is written about schizophrenia for the general readership. My best friend’s older brother was schizophrenic, and sometimes she would phone me crying and whispering from the floor of her bedroom closet. The bro—let’s call him Marco--was a large person, over six feet tall with a towering red afro that made him appear even larger. He and my friend were both adopted, and their parents weren’t nearly that big. Marco hated taking his medication, and once he reached his teens, he self-medicated with every street drug he could get his hands on. As a result, he often became violent, breaking out all of the windows of the family home and assaulting his poor sweet mother with a crowbar before the cops arrived to haul him off to the hospital again.

And so I wondered, when I saw this book, whether this was a common experience (yes,) and what inroads had been made in the decades between then and now (very few.)

The Galvin family is an anomaly, a very large family of twelve children, half of whom were stricken and the other half traumatized from growing up with them. The family participated in The Human Genome Project, a compilation of genetic samples and other information aimed at unlocking Mother Nature’s terrible secrets. Of course, researchers were also absorbed in the question of nature versus nurture.

Kolker does an outstanding job of chronicling the Galvin family’s history alternately with passages about what was known about this disease at the time when the eldest sibling began to show symptoms, and what has been learned since. It’s a lot of information to organize and share, and who knows what information he weeded out as unnecessary, because one has to stop somewhere.
When the Galvin children were diagnosed in the mid-twentieth century, professionals in the field leaned heavily toward the idea that there was no hereditary cause for the condition, but instead embraced a “mother-as-monster” theory. Because of this, Mimi Galvin, the mother of all of those children, was inclined to stonewall rather than seek help. But who could blame her? Our society was only slightly removed from the days when the ‘crazy’ family member was locked in the attic.
(“That thumping sound? Oh dear heaven, perhaps that old raccoon has snuck back in. Enjoy your pie; we’ll chase him out of there after you’re on your way.”) To make matters more complicated, Don, father of the brood, had a high profile position in the U.S. military, and rumors of family drama could have impacted his career.

Like my friend’s family, the Galvins dealt with the noise, the horror, the disruption by moving to the far edges of town, seeking geographical isolation so that neighborly complaints need not be an added worry.

Here’s the difficult part of writing about schizophrenia: readers want to find a grand discovery at the end; if not a cure, then a new and impressive treatment, or an historic advance in eliminating the problem. But solutions are elusive, and because of the stubborn nature of this disease, what may seem ground breaking to a researcher looks like a big, fat so-what to the average reader.

All told, Kolker has done a fine job describing what has taken place within the family and within the field; I thought he was a little hard on Mimi, who made a lot of errors but was facing a terrible dilemma during a period when our culture was very different from today. That aside, I do recommend this book to you. It will be available April 7, 2020.
...more

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Jun 25, 2020 Holly rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook, 2020-read

Imagine growing up in a family of 12 children, where six of them become afflicted by schizophrenia. This is the real-life story of the Galvin family. It's an interesting look at how the mother's desire to shield her 'sick' children from the sometimes more harmful than helpful treatments of the time, led to an even worse childhood for the children who were 'healthy'. Especially for the girls. Mixed in with this family's dynamics is insight into how new and better diagnoses and treatments were dev ...more

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Jun 09, 2020 L A i N E Y rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, psychological, reviewed, audiobook, unputdownable

“Children usually have no way of processing trauma beyond their own experience. And so, all too often, they blame themselves.”

What a fascinating book for a remarkable family.

Considering how much stigma still attach to mental illness t-o-d-a-y, in 2020, imagine how incredibly difficult it must have been fifty years ago. All the courage and tenacity and willpower to be able to live through that... Speechless.

The fact that the original researchers fought for over three decades and discovered impor ...more

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Apr 20, 2020 Lucia McKenzie rated it liked it

This book hit close to home for me because my brother has Schizophrenia. It is one of the most slow and painful ways to lose someone, and the impact it has on the entire family is devastating.

For those unfamiliar with Schizophrenia, the average age of onset is early twenties and it affects men at a significantly higher rate than women. The illness manifests in a variety of ways, some cases much more severe than others. What many people don’t realize is that it is a degenerative illness. The det This book hit close to home for me because my brother has Schizophrenia. It is one of the most slow and painful ways to lose someone, and the impact it has on the entire family is devastating.

For those unfamiliar with Schizophrenia, the average age of onset is early twenties and it affects men at a significantly higher rate than women. The illness manifests in a variety of ways, some cases much more severe than others. What many people don’t realize is that it is a degenerative illness. The deterioration of the brain is similar to that of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Medications can help suppress the symptoms, but tragically, no amount of medication can bring back the person you knew and loved.

I don’t have a problem with the book itself, this family’s experience is extraordinary and needs to be told. What I do struggle with is this being Oprah’s book club choice. Oprah is arguably the most influential woman in the world, so when I heard this was her choice I was so excited. This terrible mental illness barely gets any attention so for such a prominent figure to use her platform to bring awareness to thousands of people is incredible. My excitement quickly turned to dismay as I began reading. One of the biggest problems with this illness is that it has such a stigma and this book just further inflames that stigma more. Much of the book focuses on the most horrific and disturbing abuse from one of the brothers on the younger sisters. The author does state toward the end of the book that schizophrenia didn’t make him commit these terrible crimes, and the author has reiterated that point in recent interviews, but it’s not enough. There needs to be a massive disclaimer at the start of the book making it clear that this is not a reflection of what Schizophrenia looks like and the vast majority of people with schizophrenia are NOT violent especially not in the ways described.

A couple things I did like about the book: I think it does a good job of showing the gravity and tragedy of what it’s like to lose a loved one to schizophrenia, let alone 6 loved ones. My brother’s battle is very similar to the eldest son, Donald’s, and it was a really emotional experience for me reading his story. I also enjoyed the research elements, I specifically found the findings at the end of the book really fascinating. I only hope that they can continue to build on this research and find better treatments for this terrible illness.

It was an emotional roller coaster reading this book. I finished it over a week ago but haven’t been able to write a review because I have such a grab bag of feelings about it all. Overall, I would not recommend this book unless you are adequately educated about schizophrenia and you’re interested in the research aspects. ...more

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May 01, 2020 Jennifer Blankfein rated it it was amazing

Review below. Author Q & A on Book Nation by Jen
https://booknationbyjen.com/2020/05/0...
In Hidden Valley Road, journalist Robert Kolker documents an American family’s incredible journey as they navigate the effects of mental illness; six out of 12 children were diagnosed with schizophrenia, while others experienced sexual abuse and PTSD.

“Schizophrenia affects an estimated one in 100 people – or more than 3 million people in America, and 82 million people worldwide”

The Galvins were a young Air Fo ...more

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May 11, 2020 MicheleReader rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family is a tough read. It deals with a family ravaged by mental illness. It’s the story of the Galvins, an Air Force family living in Colorado. In this family of twelve children (ten boys, two girls,) six of the boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Remarkably, the two sisters had been searching for a way for their family's story to be told – an incredibly brave mission. Luckily, they found the right author in journalist Robert Kolker. And wh Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family is a tough read. It deals with a family ravaged by mental illness. It’s the story of the Galvins, an Air Force family living in Colorado. In this family of twelve children (ten boys, two girls,) six of the boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Remarkably, the two sisters had been searching for a way for their family's story to be told – an incredibly brave mission. Luckily, they found the right author in journalist Robert Kolker. And what an incredible story this is.

We learn of the struggles of each of the diagnosed children and the stories of the daughters as well as the four brothers who were not suffering from schizophrenia. None of the children emerged unscathed. Don, the father, traveled and was distant. Mimi, the mother, was the ultimate caretaker, trying to make the right decisions for each of the ill children, whose schizophrenia manifested in different ways. Mimi survived through the combination of unconditional love mixed with a large dose of denial. And as tragic were the lives of the other six siblings, who waited like time bombs wondering if they would soon develop a mental illness.

A significant portion of the book is devoted to the incredible scientists who had and are working to not only find improved treatments for schizophrenia but to find the means to prevent it in the future. Some of the most hopeful work being done to this day includes the contributions of the Galvins who provided DNA as well as brain scans to these scientists. Remarkable that in the midst of all this tragedy, they agreed to participate in the name of science. The amount of research done by the author is extraordinary and making all this readable to a non-scientific audience is quite a feat.

Since virtually everyone has either been touched by mental illness or knows someone who has been, Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family is a valuable read which shines a light on a topic people don’t talk enough about.

Review posted at MicheleReader.com ...more

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Sep 21, 2020 Kelli rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Meticulous research combined with unbiased treatment of the facts leads to a very devastating true story like no other. If you have never known someone with schizophrenia, this story will shock and sadden you. If you love someone with schizophrenia, it will break you open.
4 stars

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Oct 12, 2020 David rated it really liked it

On the surface the Galvins were the picture perfect family. Mimi comes from upper-crust Texan wealth while Don, soon to become an Air Force Academy official, exudes confidence. They will grow their family until it encompassed 10 boys and 2 girls. But turmoil is a constant companion to the family. Six of the boys would eventually be diagnosed with schizophrenia bringing chaos, abuse, murder and lots of denial to the family. Honestly I'm still not sure whether Mimi Galvin was an absolute narcissis ...more

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Oct 18, 2020 Sonja Arlow rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub-read, medicine, 2020-read, recommended, non-fiction

Imagine having 12 children! Now imagine that 6 of them are diagnosed with one of the most misunderstood illnesses of our time. Schizophrenia.

Even today, in a world where no subject (or body part) is taboo anymore, mental illness is still seen as a weakness to be hidden away.

This was a fascinating look at not only one family’s struggle with this disease but also the broader medical community and how research has developed through the decades to try and understand schizophrenia better.

Let’s be hon ...more

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May 03, 2020 Diane Yannick rated it it was ok

Mimi Galvin had twelve children and six of them had schizophrenia. Think about that sentence for a minute. I know about Catholic's stance on birth control, but twelve is a boatload. It appeared to me that Mimi was trying to fill an insatiable hole in her own life. I could not forgive her for creating a tribe that she didn't have the skills to rear. She seemed to lose respect for her husband once he lost his status due to health problems. She seemed to favor certain children to the detriment of o ...more

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Apr 18, 2020 Mehrsa rated it really liked it

I think my expectations were too high for this book. The book is about schizophrenia generally and its genetic components and the ongoing research into heritability, but it's more about the family with 12 kids--the majority of whom had it. I did learn somewhat more than I already knew about the disease, but not much more (read the Gene for better info) and the story of the family was too journalistic and removed to be invested in. I usually always prefer nonfiction, but I think this one might ha ...more

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May 29, 2020 Kimberly McCreight rated it it was amazing

An incredible book.

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Apr 10, 2020 Karen R rated it it was amazing

An intense and extraordinary account of a large damaged family that intertwines with relevant scientific information regarding schizophrenia. I would never have believed there could be so much illness and dysfunction in one family. I was so angry with the parents, Don and Mimi Galvin. Their behaviors and lack of parental supervision were selfish and would have snowballing and heartbreaking consequences, failing every one of their children.

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Dec 25, 2020 Jerrie (redwritinghood) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was a fascinating look at a large (12 children) American family that is hard-hit by schizophrenia - 6 of the 10 male children develop the disorder. The book looks not only at how the family, mainly the mother, struggled to care for the sick children, but also how healthcare for people with the disorder evolved during this time. The family also helped contribute to genetic research into its causes and development.

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May 19, 2020 Tania rated it liked it

Shelves: 2020, non-fiction

"...schizophrenia affects an estimated one in a hundred people..."

"One out of every twenty cases of schizophrenia ends in suicide."

3.5 stars. Shocking stats for a disease no-one really understands. In Hidden Valley Road the author introduces us to the Galvin's - an American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia. He spends many hours interviewing everyone in the family, which helps us appreciate that this illness had as much of an impact on the unafflicted children ...more

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About Robert Kolker

Robert Kolker

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I'm the author of Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family (Doubleday, 2020) and Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery (Harper, 2013). ...more

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