Listen free for 30 days
-
Hidden Valley Road
- Inside the Mind of an American Family
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.22
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's Summary
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF GQ's TOP 50 BOOKS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY • The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.
"Reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness."—Oprah Winfrey
Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their 12 children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins—aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the 10 Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?
What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.
With clarity and compassion, best-selling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.
You may also enjoy...
-
Before and After
- The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society
- Written by: Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of 15 adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots.
-
-
This is a great listen.
- By Anonymous User on 2020-01-24
Written by: Judy Christie, and others
-
The Bishop and the Butterfly
- Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
- Written by: Michael Wolraich
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks full of names—businessmen, socialites, gangsters. And something else—a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Written by: Michael Wolraich
-
Third Girl from the Left
- Written by: Christine Barker
- Narrated by: Betsy Struxness
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wanting to be a dancer while growing up in a large military family made Christine Barker somewhat of a black sheep, but she followed her dreams to New York City, where—in a moment of almost unbelievable good fortune—she was chosen for the London cast of A Chorus Line. London, and then New York, in the '70s and '80s opened up Christine’s world. The creativity, culture, and nightlife were intoxicating, enough so to compel her older brother Laughlin to join her. Once there, the divorced father, veteran, and corporate lawyer met rising fashion star Perry Ellis.
-
-
heart-wrenching and beautifully done
- By Samantha L. on 2024-07-03
Written by: Christine Barker
-
The Book of Longings
- A Novel
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with 18-year-old Jesus changes everything.
-
-
Breathtakingly rich, nuanced and interesting
- By Jackie Greenizan on 2020-05-10
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The American Queen
- Written by: Vanessa Miller
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Transformative and honest, The American Queen is based on actual events that occurred between 1865 - 1889 and shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built a kingdom in Appalachia as a refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of life. Over the twenty-four years she was enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Hate so powerful there's no room in her heart for love, not even for the honorable Reverend William.
-
-
The vision, tenacity and leadership of the strong female character and the bond between other women and herself
- By Nibor on 2024-05-28
Written by: Vanessa Miller
-
Lay Them to Rest
- On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
- Written by: Laurah Norton
- Narrated by: Laurah Norton
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to “getting the bad guy” behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence—and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases.
-
-
Amazing book, I couldn’t stop!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-11-29
Written by: Laurah Norton
-
Before and After
- The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society
- Written by: Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of 15 adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots.
-
-
This is a great listen.
- By Anonymous User on 2020-01-24
Written by: Judy Christie, and others
-
The Bishop and the Butterfly
- Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
- Written by: Michael Wolraich
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks full of names—businessmen, socialites, gangsters. And something else—a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Written by: Michael Wolraich
-
Third Girl from the Left
- Written by: Christine Barker
- Narrated by: Betsy Struxness
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wanting to be a dancer while growing up in a large military family made Christine Barker somewhat of a black sheep, but she followed her dreams to New York City, where—in a moment of almost unbelievable good fortune—she was chosen for the London cast of A Chorus Line. London, and then New York, in the '70s and '80s opened up Christine’s world. The creativity, culture, and nightlife were intoxicating, enough so to compel her older brother Laughlin to join her. Once there, the divorced father, veteran, and corporate lawyer met rising fashion star Perry Ellis.
-
-
heart-wrenching and beautifully done
- By Samantha L. on 2024-07-03
Written by: Christine Barker
-
The Book of Longings
- A Novel
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with 18-year-old Jesus changes everything.
-
-
Breathtakingly rich, nuanced and interesting
- By Jackie Greenizan on 2020-05-10
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The American Queen
- Written by: Vanessa Miller
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Transformative and honest, The American Queen is based on actual events that occurred between 1865 - 1889 and shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built a kingdom in Appalachia as a refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of life. Over the twenty-four years she was enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Hate so powerful there's no room in her heart for love, not even for the honorable Reverend William.
-
-
The vision, tenacity and leadership of the strong female character and the bond between other women and herself
- By Nibor on 2024-05-28
Written by: Vanessa Miller
-
Lay Them to Rest
- On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
- Written by: Laurah Norton
- Narrated by: Laurah Norton
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to “getting the bad guy” behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence—and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases.
-
-
Amazing book, I couldn’t stop!
- By Anonymous User on 2023-11-29
Written by: Laurah Norton
-
The Many Lives of Mama Love
- A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
- Written by: Lara Love Hardin
- Narrated by: Lara Love Hardin
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards. Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. But Lara quickly learns the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates.
-
-
Brilliant writer
- By Helen Runner on 2024-08-22
Written by: Lara Love Hardin
-
The Water Dancer (Oprah’s Book Club)
- A Novel
- Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her - but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known. So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North.
-
-
Fabulous Story
- By poppies4me on 2019-10-12
Written by: Ta-Nehisi Coates
-
Unwell Women
- Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World
- Written by: Elinor Cleghorn
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elinor Cleghorn became an unwell woman 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. As Elinor learned to live with her unpredictable disease, she turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis. In Unwell Women, Elinor Cleghorn traces the almost unbelievable history of how medicine has failed women by treating their bodies as alien and other, often to perilous effect.
-
-
okay so far
- By Tina on 2022-08-24
Written by: Elinor Cleghorn
-
Song of the Sparrow
- A Memoir
- Written by: Tara MacLean
- Narrated by: Tara MacLean
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Singer/songwriter Tara MacLean has had an extraordinary musical career. From being discovered singing on a BC ferry to touring with Dido, Tom Cochrane and Lilith Fair, her solo albums and those with the band Shaye have touched legions of fans. But she hasn’t, until now, disclosed the details of how the power of song saved her from a childhood filled with danger.
-
-
A MUST read (listen!)
- By Yougotsarah on 2023-06-27
Written by: Tara MacLean
-
The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind
- My Tale of Madness and Recovery
- Written by: Barbara K. Lipska, Elaine McArdle - contributor
- Narrated by: Emma Powell
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2015, Barbara Lipska - a leading expert on the neuroscience of mental illness - was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to her brain. Within months, her frontal lobe, the seat of cognition, began shutting down. She descended into madness, exhibiting dementia- and schizophrenia-like symptoms that terrified her family and coworkers. But miraculously, the immunotherapy her doctors had prescribed worked quickly. Just eight weeks after her nightmare began, Lipska returned to normal. With one difference: she remembered her brush with madness with exquisite clarity.
-
-
truly beneficial for all humans.
- By Jobin on 2024-01-18
Written by: Barbara K. Lipska, and others
-
Hope
- A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland
- Written by: Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Mary Jordan, and others
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie, Marisol Ramirez, Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two victims of the infamous Cleveland kidnapper share the story of their abductions, their decade in captivity, and their final, dramatic rescue. On May 6, 2013, Amanda Berry made headlines around the world when she fled a Cleveland area home and called 911, saying: “Help me, I’m Amanda Berry...I’ve been kidnapped, and I’ve been missing for 10 years". A horrifying story rapidly unfolded. Ariel Castro, a local school bus driver, had separately lured Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to his home, where he kept them chained in the basement.
-
-
Heroic
- By shawn on 2020-04-19
Written by: Amanda Berry, and others
What the critics say
“Hidden Valley Road is a riveting true story of an American family that reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness.” —Oprah Winfrey
“A feat of empathy and narrative journalism.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“Magisterial . . . A weave of gripping reportage and scientific detective story . . . Hidden Valley Road is destined to become a classic of narrative nonfiction.”—Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star Tribune
What listeners say about Hidden Valley Road
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah
- 2020-11-10
Highly Recommend
This was an amazing account of an incredibly open and honest family who attempted to survive and thrive in the face of the most serious of mental illnesses. The author took great care and attention to take the reader on this multigenerational journey. Would absolutely recommend!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carolyn Ledwell
- 2020-04-29
What an incredible story!
The story of this family is a testament to the power of resilience despite the secrets, the illness and pain.
" The clearest way that you can show endurance is by sticking with the family." Anne Tyler
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Camilla A.
- 2021-07-11
Loved this book!
If you love biographies, families dynamics and learning something new; in the case schizophrenia, you will LOVE this story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jackie Appleby
- 2020-06-18
I couldn't put it down!
2 stories in one. The Galvin Family story was saddening but fascinating at the same time. Questions raised through out around potential causes of the disease, the age old argument of nature vrs nurture. How each of the 14 family members were affected even though only 6 were officially diagnosed.
The story of schizophrenia throughout the 1900's, the various treatment regimes that changed as new research and technology became available and the very sad fact that despite continued work in this field there is still no definitive answer on what causes it or how best to treat it.
The two intertwined stories made this an exceptional read that had me hooked fro. the start!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2020-05-25
Informative book
I found this book very informative for anyone who has an interest in mental illness. The narrator spoke very clearly and concisely. A little technical in some areas but overall an excellent read/listen. I particularly enjoyed how both the personal and scientific perspectives were presented.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wilf Gobert
- 2022-07-07
Non-fiction so intriguing, it sounds like fiction
I had just watched the Russell Crowe movie A Beautiful Mind, the true story about John Forbes Nash Jr, a mathematical genius who suffered schizophrenia. So it was going to be hard for Hidden Valley Road to reach that story level but indeed, it surpasses it with the remarkable family records and the amazing research by the author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-01-19
Very interesting and enlightening
Enjoyed both the story and the information about schizophrenia. Grateful to learn what families go through.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- sierra harris
- 2021-08-20
best book I ever read
I absolutely loved how this book followed the life of a very messy family as they broke down the history of mental illness I'm America
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Blair Mills
- 2023-02-23
Amazing work
Fantastic and compelling story that gives not only a tragic families history but the history of the illness thst afflicts them.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-10-29
A must read!!
This story needed to be told and should be read by anyone desiring a deeper understanding of the complex dynamic between mental illness, the person and their loved ones. So informative about schizophrenia and the need for early intervention support for the person and the family.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful