Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book was incredible. I was unaware of the Galvin family and not very knowledgeable on schizophrenia either. Through this book, I learned so much about the heart-breaking destruction schizophrenia and other mental illnesses can wreak on families and the history and science behind the study of schizophrenia, all through the lens of a fascinating biography on a family I had never heard of before. Kolkor does a excellent job weaving the scientific search for a cure for schizophrenia with a harrowing tale of a family affected by the disease. At heart this the story of the family of Mimi and Don Galvin and their 12 children (yes, 12! Ten boys and two girls.) Kolkore begins with Mimi and Don's courtship and marriage and early life in the military and Don's deployment. Then he moves on to them building their life and family out in Colorado at the Air Force Academy. Kolkor takes great care in developing the characters in the Galvin family, especially Mimi, so that when tragedy strikes we care deeply about what they are going through. He does an excellent job of showing them as 3 dimensional people, some of whom do horrific things, whether in the throws of mental illness or not. The story of this family itself is fascinating and heartbreaking, even without the chapters on research into schizophrenia. While telling the story of Galvin family and their many trials and tribulations, Kolkor weaves in chapters on the history of schizophrenia, in particular how it has been viewed and studied historically. Eventually, he is telling the parallel story of several researchers/doctors who are looking for the cause (and perhaps a cure) to schizophrenia. Eventually the two stories collide when the Galvins are found by the researchers looking for families with multiple instances of the disease. Fundamentally, this is the story of a family and Kolkor tells it beautifully. Much of the focus is on the youngest Mary/Lindsay and the mother Mimi, but for a story with 14 main characters, I think Kolkor does a great job of developing all of them. Some of the brothers who didn't have breakdowns receive less attention, but they also tended to keep their distance from the family after leaving home. The youngest sisters and the mother along with the oldest two brothers become the main focus. On the chapters about the family he lists the names of everyone, adding as children are born and erasing them as they die. I found that a very effective way to keep everyone straight and to illustrate poignantly when they leave. I highly recommend this book to anyone--whether you have mental illness in your family or not. It is well-written and accessible but also poignant. I teared up a few times. I think Kolkor does such a great job of illustrating the challenging dynamic and feeling the sisters in particular feel as they become adults and try to come to terms with everything that happened to them and their concerns for their own children. Go out and get this book!