Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: psych ward, Hillbilly Gothic, Adrienne Martini, West View (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Martini, a journalist and college professor, summons her blackest comedic chops to rehash her free-fall into postpartum depression—and the newfound understanding of her own upbringing that buoys her back up. Still mired in the oppressive Appalachia that chafed at her in childhood, she checks herself into the Knoxville psychiatric hospital shortly after giving birth, acquiescing to the "hillbilly Gothic patchwork" of suicides and manic-depression that scourge her family history. As her newborn daughter battles jaundice, her mother hovers intrusively as she awaits the mystical ability to breast-feed; Martini ponders her maternal fitness with a panicked despair nimbly rendered with dry humor and candid self-appraisal. Her misery, so jarringly at odds with the "bundle of joy" in her arms, throws open a window on her own mother's severe depression, helping Martini to make peace with her family and its legacies. Unflinching honesty, mordant wit and verbal flair (she comes apart "like a wet tissue" after giving birth) save this memoir from soggy self-pity. In its humor and empathy, it's a nonjudgmental resource for the thousands of mothers battling the "baby blues." (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Hillbilly Gothic captures the fascinating contradictions of the women of modern Appalachia. Adrienne clearly illuminates the pain and shame suffered by those with closeted mental illness, while retaining respect for the several generations of brave mothers and daughters in her family who lived through it. This book is beautifully written, thought-provoking, and slyly funny. Highly recommended."

-- Katie Allison Granju, author of Attachment Parenting --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743272765
• ISBN-13: 978-0743272766
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,112,224 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pointed, down to earth, affecting, August 28, 2006

By	J. Thilmany "Iowan" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood (Hardcover)

I'm a new mother who thankfully did not suffer from postpartum depression. I lapped up Martini's honesty at her birthing experience and at being a new mother. I felt the same way, underwhelmed, terrified of how dramatically my life had changed, and deeply angry at all the Internset sites, books, experts, friends etc. who let you know exaclty what you're doing wrong. Who are so preachy. It was so so heartening for me to read this that I praise Martini for her honesty.

The timeline of this book was kind of a tangle. I didn't follow many parts exactly..okay, wait, wait, has her baby been born yet? Is she still talking about when she was a college kid staying with her father, or are we back to the present. And the parts about the history of postpartum depressiong and how mental illness is treated in American felt very obligatory and tacked on, or patched in.

But the parts about her hospital stay, both for birth and for breakdown, were real and were wrenching. And I cannot overemphasize how freakin' refreshing it is to read a memoir, in this saturated environment, of someone NOT from New York, who doesn't live in New York and who seemingly has no connections in the New York-centered industry and who is resolutely middle class and didn't even go to an Ivy League College. And a memoir not written in workshoppy, sanguine style.

It's really good. I mean, maybe you have to be a woman and maybe you have to be a mother to appreciate this, not sure as I am both. But yeah.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mothers everywhere , July 18, 2006

By	karrie (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood (Hardcover)

will find themselves nodding in recognition as they read lines such as:

"I can be perfect and completely insane or good enough and sane enough."

Adrienne Martini weaves a tale of new motherhood,post-partum depression and family history in a way her readers will find comforting, disturbing, hilarious and heartbreaking. Martini spares little detail in writing about her brush with mental illness, yet she remains likeable and funny throughout the books' darkest passages.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Food for thought for all, mothers or not, July 17, 2006

By	Emily E. Farmer (Oneonta, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood (Hardcover)

Not only did I find Martini's book to be touching, thoughtful, incisive and funny, I found it instructive as a woman, as a daughter and as a member of a society that still has a long way to go in its ability to face and deal with mental illness in any of its forms. The personal narrative of the book is skillfully blended with observations on how mental health can be shaped by genetics and environment and how those around us respond to those changes. A fine read, and an important book.