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A review by kimberly10murray
While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
What a painful yet beautiful story of how mental illness and the era of silence has affected our parents generations and every generation after. This is memoir meets investigative journalism on how people with mental illness were treated in the 80s and 90s and how that can affect the entire family and community.
If you grew up in a family that was "silent" about any issue this book is great to help walkthrough and process your emotions at that time.
"The more time i took to consider the trauma we had all been through, the easier i understood that two seemingly contradictory truths can exist simultaneously. My parents could be warm and loving but also reckless and flawed. Our family life could have been happy despite the tragedies"
People are lot more complicated than we give credit, and this has helped me process my parents and upbringing through a new lens.
Highly recommend!
If you grew up in a family that was "silent" about any issue this book is great to help walkthrough and process your emotions at that time.
"The more time i took to consider the trauma we had all been through, the easier i understood that two seemingly contradictory truths can exist simultaneously. My parents could be warm and loving but also reckless and flawed. Our family life could have been happy despite the tragedies"
People are lot more complicated than we give credit, and this has helped me process my parents and upbringing through a new lens.
Highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide