What do you think?
Rate this book
Rescuing Patty Hearst: Growing Up Sane in a Decade Gone Mad
A startling memoir of a daughter's harrowing sojourn in the prison of her mother's mind and a moving portrait of a young woman defined by her mother's illness -- until at last she rekindles a family love that had lost its way.
"1974 was a bad year to go crazy," Virginia Holman writes in this astonishing, beautiful, and painfully funny memoir of life with her schizophrenic mother in a disintegrating decade.
In May 1974, one year after Patty Hearst and her captors robbed Hibernia National Bank, a second kidnapping took place, far from the glare of the headlines. Virginia Holman's mother, in the thrall of her first psychotic episode, believed she'd been inducted into a secret army. On command of the voices in her head, she spirited her two daughters to the family cottage on the Virginia Peninsula, painted the windows black, and set up the house as a field hospital. They remained there for four years, waiting for a war that never came.
At first, it was easy to explain away her mother's symptoms in the context of the changing times -- her mother was viewed as "finding herself" in the spirit of the decade. When challenged about her delusion of the secret war, she invoked the name of Martha Mitchell. When she exhibited florid psychosis, her aunt, influenced by Hollywood's smash hit movie The Exorcist, seriously suggested that an exorcism might be in order. Even after she was hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early 1980s, Holman's mother retained just enough lucidity to appease caseworkers in a system seemingly more concerned with protecting a patient's rights than with halting the progress of a woman's desperately dangerous illness.
Rescuing Patty Hearst is an unflinching account of the dark days during which Holman's family was held hostage by her mother's delusions and the country was beset by the folly of the Watergate era. It is a startling memoir of a daughter's harrowing sojourn in the prison of her mother's mind. And, finally, it lingers as a moving portrait of a young woman defined by her mother's illness -- until at last she rekindles a family love that had lost its way.
"1974 was a bad year to go crazy," Virginia Holman writes in this astonishing, beautiful, and painfully funny memoir of life with her schizophrenic mother in a disintegrating decade.
In May 1974, one year after Patty Hearst and her captors robbed Hibernia National Bank, a second kidnapping took place, far from the glare of the headlines. Virginia Holman's mother, in the thrall of her first psychotic episode, believed she'd been inducted into a secret army. On command of the voices in her head, she spirited her two daughters to the family cottage on the Virginia Peninsula, painted the windows black, and set up the house as a field hospital. They remained there for four years, waiting for a war that never came.
At first, it was easy to explain away her mother's symptoms in the context of the changing times -- her mother was viewed as "finding herself" in the spirit of the decade. When challenged about her delusion of the secret war, she invoked the name of Martha Mitchell. When she exhibited florid psychosis, her aunt, influenced by Hollywood's smash hit movie The Exorcist, seriously suggested that an exorcism might be in order. Even after she was hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia in the early 1980s, Holman's mother retained just enough lucidity to appease caseworkers in a system seemingly more concerned with protecting a patient's rights than with halting the progress of a woman's desperately dangerous illness.
Rescuing Patty Hearst is an unflinching account of the dark days during which Holman's family was held hostage by her mother's delusions and the country was beset by the folly of the Watergate era. It is a startling memoir of a daughter's harrowing sojourn in the prison of her mother's mind. And, finally, it lingers as a moving portrait of a young woman defined by her mother's illness -- until at last she rekindles a family love that had lost its way.
244 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2003
11 people are currently reading
5646 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
January 4, 2011
I’m a little late on this book review, as I finished this a couple of weeks ago, but here goes. This book is set in the mid-1970s—just around the time that Patty Hearst was abducted—and centers on the author’s mother’s late-developing schizophrenia and attempt to set up a camp for a “secret army” of children to be trained.
This memoir is a fascinating portrayal of mental illness—schizophrenia—and the ways in which we are adopted into (sucked into) our parents’ issues and disabled lives. As a matter of fact, the reader is led to believe that at points Virginia Holman as a child narrator actually believes that her mother’s “secret army” will come to fruition.
Holman’s tone throughout the memoir—switching from her 1970s childhood to present-day 2000—was near pitch-perfect, though I was disappointed that there were fewer present-day chapters as the chronology of the narrative sped up. And though I quite enjoyed this memoir (as much as you can enjoy reading about schizophrenia), I did feel that the build-up of the “secret army” was a bit of a letdown—and I never understood why. Why a “secret army”? What war? Maybe the author can’t answer those questions herself, for the book is as much the author’s search for the truth as it is a narrative. And because the buildup of the “secret army” never goes anywhere, the middle of this book becomes slower, as the author’s mother attempts to act normal when her husband moves into the cabin with them.
I also think there’s not enough Patty Hearst references in this memoir to justify the title, which means that the title itself becomes a gimmick for the reader to buy the book. It’s a bit of a letdown even for me, though I knew at the beginning that this was a memoir about a childhood under the spell of a schizophrenic mother.
Still, this was a really good memoir—and fascinating for its psychological insights. Early on, Holman explains, “Schizophrenics hear voices. Now understand that unlike the voice you hear in your head telling you to remember to take your child to soccer practice at five o’clock, these voices, though they come from the brain, sound as if they come from outside. These voices are as loud and unpredictable as someone else’s stereo. It’s not like being possessed; it’s like being assaulted and enslaved.”
And I must confess that towards the end I worried—in true pseudo-hypochondriac fashion—if I might end up a schizophrenic, too.
This memoir is a fascinating portrayal of mental illness—schizophrenia—and the ways in which we are adopted into (sucked into) our parents’ issues and disabled lives. As a matter of fact, the reader is led to believe that at points Virginia Holman as a child narrator actually believes that her mother’s “secret army” will come to fruition.
Holman’s tone throughout the memoir—switching from her 1970s childhood to present-day 2000—was near pitch-perfect, though I was disappointed that there were fewer present-day chapters as the chronology of the narrative sped up. And though I quite enjoyed this memoir (as much as you can enjoy reading about schizophrenia), I did feel that the build-up of the “secret army” was a bit of a letdown—and I never understood why. Why a “secret army”? What war? Maybe the author can’t answer those questions herself, for the book is as much the author’s search for the truth as it is a narrative. And because the buildup of the “secret army” never goes anywhere, the middle of this book becomes slower, as the author’s mother attempts to act normal when her husband moves into the cabin with them.
I also think there’s not enough Patty Hearst references in this memoir to justify the title, which means that the title itself becomes a gimmick for the reader to buy the book. It’s a bit of a letdown even for me, though I knew at the beginning that this was a memoir about a childhood under the spell of a schizophrenic mother.
Still, this was a really good memoir—and fascinating for its psychological insights. Early on, Holman explains, “Schizophrenics hear voices. Now understand that unlike the voice you hear in your head telling you to remember to take your child to soccer practice at five o’clock, these voices, though they come from the brain, sound as if they come from outside. These voices are as loud and unpredictable as someone else’s stereo. It’s not like being possessed; it’s like being assaulted and enslaved.”
And I must confess that towards the end I worried—in true pseudo-hypochondriac fashion—if I might end up a schizophrenic, too.
June 29, 2021
This is another story of growing up with a schizophrenic family member during the time when the disease was even more poorly understood than it is today—but unlike the more recent HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD, these aren’t parents dealing with mentally ill children, but the author’s experience as a child living with a mentally ill mom.
RESCUING PATTY HEARST boasts some impressive writing, dropping readers into a very specific time and place (a Virginia seaside town in the 1970s and 1980s), filled with rich detail. The author takes an unflinching look at not only her mother’s battle with schizophrenia, but also the actions of her friends, family, neighbors, and herself—and not all of it is flattering.
I’d like to give a content warning for this book in that it contains a very upsetting passage:
RESCUING PATTY HEARST boasts some impressive writing, dropping readers into a very specific time and place (a Virginia seaside town in the 1970s and 1980s), filled with rich detail. The author takes an unflinching look at not only her mother’s battle with schizophrenia, but also the actions of her friends, family, neighbors, and herself—and not all of it is flattering.
I’d like to give a content warning for this book in that it contains a very upsetting passage:
December 5, 2012
The my-family-was-crazy memoir ought to be a separate genre in itself -- there certainly are enough of them. "Rescuing Patty Hearst" is a pretty good example. The secret to Virginia Holman's success is that she keeps chapters simple and short, letting the reader (for the most part) pass judgment on her mother's actions. The end result is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a woman who created a nearly untenable childhood for this feisty author. Having grown up in the same era as Holman, I especially liked the way the 1970s became both a metaphor for her mother's insanity, and a possible reason for it. (Martha Mitchell was right about the secret government war -- why not Molly?) Maybe "Watergatesque" should join "Kafkaesque" as a byword for a government gone mad.
October 29, 2023
The title of the book is a letdown because there is not enough references to justify the title. However, the pain of two small girls and a Dad living with a schizophrenic mom is heartbreaking. The book is very easy to read although some areas were slow going but others were page turner. It took place in the 1970’s when little was known about this mental illness which made it so much harder for all involved to handle the pain.
April 10, 2024
This book is absolutely gut wrenching. To have your childhood and eventually your adulthood so tainted by the experiences that come along with having a parent that deep in psychosis would be absolutely traumatizing. The love the author still holds for her mother, especially in the end scene, really shows the strength of her character. I'm sorry the author had to go through this but I deeply appreciate her ability to take it and turn it into artful storytelling.
December 1, 2008
Lest the title confuse you, let me clarify that this book is NOT about Patty Hearst, except insofar as the author identified with her. The book is the author's memoir of growing up with a schizophrenic mother. When the author was eight years old, her mother became possessed by the delusion that she was on a mission to set up a children's hospital for a secret war. The mother recruited the daughter into the mission, and because she was so young, it took her a few years to realize the whole thing wasn't real. As she begins to realize just how sick her mother is, she begins to try to break away, first by developing friendships in school, then by getting active in church, and finally by working with her father and various shrinks to get the mother committed.
Though the book certainly made me sympathize with the author, I came away with particular respect for the father. The book takes place mostly in the late 70's, and incredibly, even in those years the courts would have awarded custody to the mother had he chosen to divorce her. So for the sake of his daughters, and because of "in sickness and in health," the father stuck by his wife and tried his best to create a unified home and family. I think he succeeded in passing down the family value of loyalty; as an adult, the author continues to have a relationship with her hospitalized mother.
Because the book is a memoir and not a novel, it's true to life. It's definitely a fast read, especially the scenes of the mother's madness, but there's no knockout, happily-ever-after ending. "Patty Hearst" does get rescued, not by police squad but by therapy and soul-searching. And given her circumstances, that really is the best she could hope for.
Though the book certainly made me sympathize with the author, I came away with particular respect for the father. The book takes place mostly in the late 70's, and incredibly, even in those years the courts would have awarded custody to the mother had he chosen to divorce her. So for the sake of his daughters, and because of "in sickness and in health," the father stuck by his wife and tried his best to create a unified home and family. I think he succeeded in passing down the family value of loyalty; as an adult, the author continues to have a relationship with her hospitalized mother.
Because the book is a memoir and not a novel, it's true to life. It's definitely a fast read, especially the scenes of the mother's madness, but there's no knockout, happily-ever-after ending. "Patty Hearst" does get rescued, not by police squad but by therapy and soul-searching. And given her circumstances, that really is the best she could hope for.
May 25, 2010
Trying to understand mental illness, much less live with it or someone else is difficult, to say the least. And to try and do it during a time when psychiatry didn't have the tools, or medication, it has now is even more challenging. I found this book interesting in the author's struggle to understand her mother through the lens of her illness. Most people don't do that because acknowledging mental illness as a chronic condition means that you are challenged to treat it as such, and our society doesn't exactly encourage that. Sure we have the confessional culture of Dr. Phil, Maury, and Oprah but that makes for a good hour of teevee, not a lifetime of struggling to live on a day to day basis.
January 5, 2014
Not only an astonishing window onto the world of a young girl whose mother slips wildly into schizophrenia (in the early 70s), kidnapping her and her baby sister for a delusional war effort, but an amazingly well-crafted memoir. Built with short, lyrical, yet devastating chapters, Rescuing Patty Hearst remains one of my favorite memoirs. I'm teaching it again this semester.
November 11, 2019
I loved this book, but it was emotionally wrenching for me to read it. I grew up in a similar situation, about a decade before the author, in the same neck of the woods, in Yorktown, Virginia. My mother wasn't violent, as the author's was, but she had the same diagnosis, the same going in and out of hospitals, the same going on and off of drugs, the same, or similar, bizarre behavior. I lived in constant fear during my childhood, not necessarily afraid of violence, but afraid of another of my mother's disorienting breakdowns and suicide attempts. I tried to escape my home as often as was possible, and as soon as I could, I got out of there fast. There was so much in this book that resonated with me. Here is one section that hit me hard, feelings I knew all too well:
"We all want her to just stop being sick. For our lives to stop being the constant knot of tension and fatigue and fear. And so we push for wellness. We all try to smile and put forth a huge effort to show one another and the world how normal things are. But for me, it feels like my face will crack from the mask I wear."
And later, in the same chapter, when her mother's voice gets panicky, too loud, with a laugh coming in the middle of sentences like a cough: "I feel the mask on my face begin to crack. I am seething. I hate this, I hate her. I wish she would leave. Why doesn't she just leave us, or kill herself? She needs to go."
Later, the father tells his daughters, "You girls promise me something. If you've got to get sick, don't get this shit. Get cancer, OK? At least you die."
How I related to all these feelings, the conflicting love and hate, the fear of being trapped, the fear that nothing can be done, the utter hopelessness. This was a very powerful book. I never came to any kind of acceptance with my own mother, so I admire the author's growth in this area. My mother is gone now, but I hope Virginia Holman is okay. I thank her for giving voice to my own childhood feelings.
"We all want her to just stop being sick. For our lives to stop being the constant knot of tension and fatigue and fear. And so we push for wellness. We all try to smile and put forth a huge effort to show one another and the world how normal things are. But for me, it feels like my face will crack from the mask I wear."
And later, in the same chapter, when her mother's voice gets panicky, too loud, with a laugh coming in the middle of sentences like a cough: "I feel the mask on my face begin to crack. I am seething. I hate this, I hate her. I wish she would leave. Why doesn't she just leave us, or kill herself? She needs to go."
Later, the father tells his daughters, "You girls promise me something. If you've got to get sick, don't get this shit. Get cancer, OK? At least you die."
How I related to all these feelings, the conflicting love and hate, the fear of being trapped, the fear that nothing can be done, the utter hopelessness. This was a very powerful book. I never came to any kind of acceptance with my own mother, so I admire the author's growth in this area. My mother is gone now, but I hope Virginia Holman is okay. I thank her for giving voice to my own childhood feelings.
July 11, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
As someone with mental illness, reading about mental illness experiences is equal parts terrifying, fascinating, and oddly comforting. The author does a fantastic way of illustrating the wide range of conflicting feelings she has towards her childhood and her parents - as well as her relationship with herself. She is, as she should be, forgiving of her child self and her inability to control her life at those ages. This book is heartbreaking but also so grounded in this family narrative - not unlike other books about growing up with a mentally ill family member. It really humanizes the story, although it is clear the author is still working through her feelings and using this memoir as a way to do so - so don’t expect a huge emotional revelation, but rather some little nuanced moments with depth.
My biggest flaw in the book is the title and overall metaphor of Patty Hearst. I think that although the author did experience a kidnapping, she leans on the myth that Patty Hearst had a choice in what she did and was a victim of Stockholm Syndrome (caring for her captor) - not someone who was just doing what she had to do to survive. In many ways I believe the author’s mother connects the most to the Hearst narrative rather than the author herself - although I do understand her ties to the Hearst narrative as well. That’s just me being a Hearst apologist though.
Wonderful look at a family in turmoil trying their best. I am glad I read it!
As someone with mental illness, reading about mental illness experiences is equal parts terrifying, fascinating, and oddly comforting. The author does a fantastic way of illustrating the wide range of conflicting feelings she has towards her childhood and her parents - as well as her relationship with herself. She is, as she should be, forgiving of her child self and her inability to control her life at those ages. This book is heartbreaking but also so grounded in this family narrative - not unlike other books about growing up with a mentally ill family member. It really humanizes the story, although it is clear the author is still working through her feelings and using this memoir as a way to do so - so don’t expect a huge emotional revelation, but rather some little nuanced moments with depth.
My biggest flaw in the book is the title and overall metaphor of Patty Hearst. I think that although the author did experience a kidnapping, she leans on the myth that Patty Hearst had a choice in what she did and was a victim of Stockholm Syndrome (caring for her captor) - not someone who was just doing what she had to do to survive. In many ways I believe the author’s mother connects the most to the Hearst narrative rather than the author herself - although I do understand her ties to the Hearst narrative as well. That’s just me being a Hearst apologist though.
Wonderful look at a family in turmoil trying their best. I am glad I read it!
January 6, 2020
This was a memoir of Holman’s experience growing up with a mentally ill mother. The narrative alternates sporadically between her childhood and adulthood, offering memories and insights. It was interesting to see how in the mid-70s, and even in the 80s, it was nearly impossible to get professional help for a mentally ill family member without that person’s explicit consent.
The book description isn’t exactly accurate. It states the author and her sister were kidnapped by their mother, and implies they were in captivity for four years. Yes, Holman’s mother’s illness made her say and do a lot of erratic things, and she manipulated her children and her husband, but once the dad arrived at the scene of the “kidnapping,” (a family-owned cabin), they lived as a family. Holman went to school and church, had a best friend, and her aunt, uncle and cousins lived within walking distance. This is not really a problem I had with the book itself, but a problem I had with the marketing.
I understand that the author related to Patty Hearst and felt that she and the heiress had something in common… That they had to figure out how to become themselves again after living under extreme stress. However, this could have been tied up better in the book, especially considering the book’s title.
The book description isn’t exactly accurate. It states the author and her sister were kidnapped by their mother, and implies they were in captivity for four years. Yes, Holman’s mother’s illness made her say and do a lot of erratic things, and she manipulated her children and her husband, but once the dad arrived at the scene of the “kidnapping,” (a family-owned cabin), they lived as a family. Holman went to school and church, had a best friend, and her aunt, uncle and cousins lived within walking distance. This is not really a problem I had with the book itself, but a problem I had with the marketing.
I understand that the author related to Patty Hearst and felt that she and the heiress had something in common… That they had to figure out how to become themselves again after living under extreme stress. However, this could have been tied up better in the book, especially considering the book’s title.
February 21, 2025
The chapter/sections could have each been longer and fleshed out with more detail. It seemed more like an out-of-order memory drop than a story I could easily follow. Possibly details could have been added about the mental health system over the decades, the family history of her grandparents, how neighbors and friends reacted, etc. (Was it just me, or was her uncle a jerk to her dad when he tried to ask about the family history?) Still, this was a poignant memoir of a young girl who was surely in fear of her life on a daily basis—and living in a dangerous situation—for many years. Thank God her dad was there, but would her and her sister’s youth have been better if he had left with them or at least not let the mom run away for so long with them? I could appreciate her sporadic anger at him, but people also used to honor their marriage vows at all costs in those times. I hope she has found peace.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2024
This memoir of growing up with a schizophrenic mother is both beautiful and heartbreaking, and yes, sometimes "painfully funny." It is "an unflinching account of the dark days [and years] when Holman's family was held hostage by her mother's delusions" and a "startling memoir of a daughter's harrowing sojourn in the prison of her mother's mind" (front cover). Part of this sojourn, takes place in the 1970s when Holman's mother, in her first psychotic episode, takes her and he sister to a family cottage to prepare to set up a field hospital for refugee children in an imaginary war. Patty Hears, whose story happened at the same time the years in the cottage, becomes a metaphor of loss and recovery and identity which adds to the power of Holman's story.
Ultimately this is a story of escape and survival and love and of "losses [that] are unspeakable" (iii).
Highly recommended.
Ultimately this is a story of escape and survival and love and of "losses [that] are unspeakable" (iii).
Highly recommended.
May 14, 2017
This memoir is beautiful, thoughtful and heartbreaking. Each page and every word has been polished until it shines. It is also a fast read, because of that well-polished prose--it reads like a novel and grabs you from the first page. You will want to know what happens, and why, and then what happens next. You don't need to know anything about mental illness to appreciate this story; in fact, I think the fewer preconceived notions you bring to it, the better. It is, simply, one of the best memoirs I have ever read.
September 16, 2023
Virginia Holman recalls the life she had to live with her mother who had mental illness. She told of the turmoil that she went through as a child and teenager and then having to deal with the memories when she was an adult.
I would recommend to those who have/had a parent/family member with a mental illness. This helped me see things that I have witnessed in others.
I would recommend to those who have/had a parent/family member with a mental illness. This helped me see things that I have witnessed in others.
September 28, 2023
The resilience in this story astounded me. Also the constant back of the mind fear of "is this ever going to happen to me?" When you have schizophrenics in your family was very relatable to me. Such a powerful memoir
April 15, 2024
Written with a raw, unglamorous view from childhood into early adulthood. From someone who lived, survived and wrote about the sad, crazy, but human side of schizophrenia. The leaving, accepting and forgiving as the hardest.
September 16, 2024
She’s a very good writer. It is a harrowing primary incident, and it is full of emotion. But there is another side, the view from the inside of life with mental illness tlod by a girl who wants to have her own life
Not uplifting at all
Not uplifting at all
April 8, 2018
Great book about living with a mentally ill parent. Really liked the relationships, coming of age story, and the political backdrop to her family drama. Moving and sad.
June 3, 2018
Interesting and familiar in so many ways. Time period and place were nearly identical. VA in the 70s
April 23, 2020
Interesting, sad, and kind of depressing. Reveals the severity of schizophrenia and how it can destroy a family.
April 8, 2021
Great read. It was nice to hear from the perspective of the daughter who's mother has a mental illness, usually the book is totally focused on the person with the mental illness.
May 28, 2022
This book reads like a fiction. An intense tale of a childhood with a schizophrenic parent.
September 4, 2022
I liked most of the book, but the dad saying it's better to be dead than to have a psychotic disorder hit me very hard. I felt really bad after that.
September 21, 2022
I have no words.. this book is a strong thing to think of. I completely like it
December 27, 2022
Sometimes the lines between crazy and normal blur.
July 6, 2024
Slow read, interesting to read about schizophrenia. Not sure the connection to Patty Hurst.
May 20, 2012
Rescuing Patty Hearst is one of those books that is hard to describe in terms of why someone should want to read it. The very short summary: it's Virginia Holman's account of how her family survived her mother's mental illness--schizophrenia that didn't become symptomatic until after she had children and a husband. Holman's prologue begins as follows: "Nineteen seventy four was a bad time to go crazy." She goes on to relate the paranoia that pervaded daily life and the fear and confusion that cases like the one involving Patty Hearst and Stolkholm syndrome aroused in people. If you can't trust yourself, who's left?
Holman's mother took her two daughters to an old cottage in Kechotan, VA where she enlisted their help in preparing for the "secret war" and the arrival of the war children. Family lived nearby, but they dismissed a lot of the woman's behavior as eccentric, not psychotic. Five years later, a psychiatrist evaluated her and explained that all of the weirdness was due to her illness. Unfortunately, schizophrenia was even less well understood then than it is now, and it still isn't curable. So after the evaluation, Holman's mother was released to the care of her family complete with the nasty side effects of anti-psychotic medications.
What makes Rescuing Patty Hearst so enthralling is Virginia Holman's compassion for her mother and her family. She creates a compelling story from fragments of memory of a time when everyone in the family was trying their best to survive and take care of each other, even if some of the efforts were misguided.
Holman's mother took her two daughters to an old cottage in Kechotan, VA where she enlisted their help in preparing for the "secret war" and the arrival of the war children. Family lived nearby, but they dismissed a lot of the woman's behavior as eccentric, not psychotic. Five years later, a psychiatrist evaluated her and explained that all of the weirdness was due to her illness. Unfortunately, schizophrenia was even less well understood then than it is now, and it still isn't curable. So after the evaluation, Holman's mother was released to the care of her family complete with the nasty side effects of anti-psychotic medications.
What makes Rescuing Patty Hearst so enthralling is Virginia Holman's compassion for her mother and her family. She creates a compelling story from fragments of memory of a time when everyone in the family was trying their best to survive and take care of each other, even if some of the efforts were misguided.
March 20, 2010
This book is about a girl growing with a mother who had schizophrenia. Apparently the laws then required the person to have cut themselves or someone to be committed. her mother kidnapped her and her older sister to live in their family's very old and run down summer cabin. She believed she was in a secret war and had to set up a field hospital for orphaned children who would be sent to her. She prepared the hospital, studied and made her daughter study medical stuff and practice night maneuvers. Eventually the father found a new job and moved up there but they were helpless to help her as she did not believe (of course) that she was insane and the law could not help them. The husband stayed for a long time because he took his marriage vows seriously. However at one point, it became so awful that he considered divorce. Their life was absolutely dysfunctional and sickening. He came back though when he realized his wife would not be committed and she would gain custody of the kids as was the norm back then. The mom was normal one day and then she heard "voices" for the first time. It was a gradual progression but no way to get her help as she would not go in for treatment willingly and they couldn't have her committed or forced to accept treatment. Anyway, the book is captivating as the daughter, now grown, details their life during those 5 years until their mother was committed and trying to make sense of it all.
April 5, 2015
The story here came as a complete surprise to me as I bought it based on the title alone. As someone interested in the local Northern California association with the Hearst family, I assumed the book would add to my understanding of their history. It did, but only in a peripheral way. Basically the Hearst kidnapping was used briefly as a back story to put the author's childhood into the context of the times when she grew up. It was well done, as were the smattering of other references to growing up, as I did, in the 1970's (Toughskin jeans, The Exorcist, Martha Mitchell, the Bicentennial, etc...).
My one word description of the author's memories of growing up the daughter of a schizophrenic parent is 'harrowing'. And that doesn't do her ordeal justice. As hard as it was to read, my heart kept going out to the little girl who was confronted with these unimaginable situations.
I applaud the author for her courage in confronting her memories, her parents, and her fears. And then for allowing us a glimpse into that world.
3 Stars
★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible
My one word description of the author's memories of growing up the daughter of a schizophrenic parent is 'harrowing'. And that doesn't do her ordeal justice. As hard as it was to read, my heart kept going out to the little girl who was confronted with these unimaginable situations.
I applaud the author for her courage in confronting her memories, her parents, and her fears. And then for allowing us a glimpse into that world.
3 Stars
★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible
Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews