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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK ONE OF GQ’s TOP 50 BOOKS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY 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.
“Reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness.”—Oprah Winfrey
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 12 children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins—aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the 10 Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?
What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.
With clarity and compassion, best-selling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family’s unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.
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Lori D’Amico –
First, I have to say I just can’t imagine these circumstances on several levels! As a woman, giving birth to 12 children because my husband wanted a dozen kids and the Catholic church said birth control was a sin. Then the issue that Mimi, the wife and mother converted to Catholicism in order to be married and please her husband and his family. Also regarding the church, perhaps they need to worry less about sticking their nose into matters of birth control and more about being aware of what some of their priests are doing with regard to sexual abuse against minors! Then there is the unimaginable pain, stress, fear etc of having 10 sons in a row, with half of them later being diagnosed with schizophrenia! This is the story of the Galvin family of “Hidden Valley Road” by Robert Kolker. And what a complex and nuanced story it is…
The dynamics within the family are quite interesting. The father is very involved with his career and his hobby of capturing and controlling falcons. Who DOES that? And one has to wonder how great the need for control is when it compels a person to capture wild birds and domesticate them by sewing their eyelids shut among other methods. Mr Galvin at one point begins to refer to his sons not by name but by birth order such as “Come here please, Number Five.” Nothing like eating away at a child’s identity.
Mimi Galvin, wife and mother is also rather fascinating. She invalidates her childrens experiences and feelings, denies the seriousness of their problems in some ways and tries to keep everything quiet so their neighbors, friends and colleagues don’t know of the mental illnesses affecting them all in one way or another.
The kids are many stories essentially. There are violent fistfights, brothers preying upon each other, police calls, parents who are more like supervisors and gatekeepers than loving parents, two little girls lost in the fray, one shipped out to live with another family that are associates of the parents, making sure that things look as normal as possible for the outside world but behind closed doors everyone is in dire need of love, understanding, communication and intervention. Then the symptoms among the boys become impossible to contain.
There is also the story of schizophrenia itself. The question of what causes it, the nature vs nurture debate as well as the history regarding naming the illness, the causes once attributed to it (i.e. “the schizophrenogenic mother” , a.k.A “blaming the mother” and more) as well as scientists, medical professionals, researchers etc attempts to find the cause AND the “cure” — or at least a treatment that doesn’t cause unacceptable side effects that do further damage.
This is a very well written and fascinating read! Well researched and edited. I found it hard to put down but find it so sad that this entire family seems so lacking in their ability to FEEL and to truly bond with each other. I’d like to see this made into a movie!
Daniela M –
Unglaublich bewegende Familiengeschichte, die in diesem Buch sachlich und trotzdem mit viel Herz und Respekt erzählt wird.
Das Buch würde ich jedem empfehlen, der sich mit dem Thema Schizophrenie beschäftigt oder daran interessiert ist.
Die Kapitel über die Entwicklung der Forschung haben mir geholfen die heutigen Diagnosekriterien besser zu verstehen.
MartÃn Lozano –
La narrativa de Kolker nos remite a terrenos inquietantes de la dinámica familiar y las enfermedades mentales que con frecuencia se soslayan, anteponiendo la necesidad de pertenencia social a la de procurar una solución a males que desde tiempos freudianos la psiquiatrÃa no acierta a concertar.
Maishilla –
Historia verÃdica.
JoAnn S. –
This is a good read and interesting story. I am not familiar with schizophrenia but I now feel like I have understanding and compassion towards those that suffer. There are some places in the book that hit a bit too technical for me, but I can see where this information may be a necessary part of this story.
cristina z. –
Siamo negli anni ’40, la vita di Mimi e Don Galvin era perfetta, o almeno così sembrava: dopo la fine della guerra Don ottiene un ottimo impiego nell’esercito e il nucleo familiare non fa che allagarsi. Dodici bambini in tutto, dieci maschi e due femmine, tutti dal bell’aspetto e intelligenti.
Ma le cose iniziano a cambiare quando il maggiore dei figli, Donald, inizia a comportarsi in modo strano seguito da altri cinque dei fratelli minori.
In questo romanzo autobiografico si ripercorrerà la tragica storia della famiglia Galvin, sopratutto dal punto di vista della figlia minore Mary. Non mancano sezioni esplicative sulla neuropsichiatria e sul suo sviluppo.
Un colpo allo stomaco.
Un resoconto brillante, pagine pregne di dolore e sofferenza e una ricerca scientifica ancora aperta.
La scrittura di Kolker è molto coinvolgente e riesce a trasmettere il senso di oppressione e disorientamento che i membri della famiglia Galvin hanno vissuto per anni.Il senso di pesantezza che aleggiava a Hidden Valley Road attraversa le pagine.
Il libro non si limita a raccontare la storia dei singoli componenti della famiglia ma offre anche una panoramica sulla schizofrenia in generale, sui suoi sintomi e sui suoi effetti sulle relazioni interpersonali.
A volte la lettura può risultare lenta ma a me è piaciuta molto.
Consiglio libri su : @modularbookshelf
Kindle Customer –
I don’t know when I have ever read a better researched and well written book (and I read a lot). Others have reviewed the book in detail so I will just say that this is a must read for anyone who has an interest in mental illness, or has mental illness in their family. It does give a lot of technical information but is still not hard for the lay person to understand. Again, excellent book!
She Treads Softly –
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker is a very highly recommended true family drama and medical detective story following the Galvin family.
Between 1945 and 1965 Don and Mimi Galvin had 12 children, 10 sons first and then 2 daughters. Later 6 of the boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is the inside true story of their family, including the violent wrestling matches between the older brothers, the seemingly perfect father, the control Mimi exercised over them, the hidden sexual abuse, and the feelings of abandonment by younger siblings. Once their first born, Donald, began exhibiting mental issues and was later diagnosed as schizophrenic, they tried to keep the truth hidden as long as possible. By the 1970’s six of their sons who were diagnosed as schizophrenic and the families secret could no longer be hidden. Soon Mimi was spending all her time and energy trying to help the “sick” boys while basically leaving the “healthy” children to their own devices.
It is also the story of the history of schizophrenia and the medical advancements made during this time. Kolker follows the background information about the history of schizophrenia and the psychiatric, chemical, and biological advancements in treatment were interesting. The various treatments the brothers endured are shared and the struggles they had taking their medication as the professionals searched to find a treatment that worked for the brothers. Because so many siblings in one family were diagnosed with schizophrenia, the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health is the search for a genetic marker for the disease. Samples of their DNA are still being used in genetic research today. This research continues to influence treatment, prediction of the disease occurring and hopefully a way to prevent the disease in the future.
This is in turn a heart breaking and fascinating well-written and researched account. It is truly an honest portrait of a family in crisis. Kolker follows each family member, their place in the family, and their story with empathy and honesty. It is easy to judge Mimi’s actions, but at the same time impossible to do so unless you were in her situation. She really seemed to handle the mental breakdowns of her sons as most people from her generation would and her own background also influenced this. The recounting of the family’s history and suffering is handled with compassion. This is not always an easy read, but it is an eye opening and engrossing narrative.