From Publishers Weekly
Almost a quarter of a century after his mother's suicide, and when he himself is 40-something, Treadway, who was born into a prominent New England hotel family, finds his own life unraveling. The tragic event of his mother's death had seemed scarcely to affect him as a young man. Now there is a black hole hardening into a permanent emptiness. This despite a solid marriage, lively personal interests and an expanding career as a psychotherapist in Massachusetts. He seeks help from another therapist, as well as asking his father, siblings, aunts and uncles for written memories of the past. Except for an overly artful alternation between past and present tenses throughout the book, this is a well-written, absorbing memoir enriched by a number of narrative devices: parallels between what Treadway's patients are experiencing and his own problems; revelations of his own therapy; excerpts from his family's painful recollections; and incidents from his own ongoing life. This is an encouraging demonstration of how a psychological search into the past reopens and begins to heal old wounds.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A therapist and frequent speaker on recovery from alcoholism and trauma, Treadway here presents a memoir that recounts his own long journey of grief recovery after his mother's tragic death. At age 20, Treadway experienced the loss of his mother to suicide. He then witnessed the subsequent faltering of his family toward alcoholism and mental illness. Though assuming the role as the family caretaker/therapist, he remained numbly detached from his own grief, unable to find or even seek closure. As a successful family therapist and family man, emotional fulfillment still eluded him. His confrontation with his own grief is a gradual, earnest process, sometimes spilling over into his work and touching every realm of his family life. Painfully direct, Treadway shares some of his most intimate experiences and emotional struggles. Heart-rending emotional honesty coupled with the awareness of a therapist makes this memoir an inspiration to those in the grief recovery process. On a par with other recent memoirs of mental health professionals dealing with emotional problems, such as Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind (LJ 10/1/95) and Anne G. Rogers's A Shining Affliction (LJ 6/15/95), this fine book is recommended for all collections.?Dana L. Brumbelow, Auburn P.L., Ala.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
