Non-Fiction Book Reviews
Book Review: A Lethal Inheritance
By Sandy Amazeen Jan 25, 2012, 3:28 GMT
Foreword by Terrie Moffitt, PhD Professor of Neuroscience, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, and Duke UniversityEvery family has secrets; only some secrets are lethal. In Victoria Costello\'s family mental illness had been given many names over at least four generations until this inherited conspiracy of silence finally endangered the youngest members of the family, her children.In this riveting story--part memoir, detective story, and scientific investigation--in the tradition of the ...more
When the administrator of yet another high school informed Victoria Costello that her seventeen year old son Alex was not to come back, followed by Alex running her car into a fence for no apparent reason, she had little choice but face facts. Especially as those facts included a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, an outcome not completely unexpected as Alex had shown signs of being “different” since early childhood. Two years after his older brother’s breakdown, Victoria’s “perfect” son Sammy began exhibiting signs of mental illness as well. Plagued with depression for much of her life, Victoria gained the courage to cast off years of denial. As Victoria searches for medical answers, effective treatment options and delves into her family history, she discovers long kept secrets and half-truths that veiled two suicides and a line of assorted mental illness spanning three generations.
Although Victoria’s story could easily be depressing, this deeply personal book details one family’s journey through the stigma, denial, treatment difficulties and emerging medical research to reach a point where Alex, Sammy and their mom are enjoying life as never before. Filled with solid science, useful guidelines and information on the latest cutting edge studies, this educational book delivers plenty of material for anyone coping with mental illness or seeking to understand someone who is. The list of reader resources rounds out this thoroughly researched yet approachable book.
