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Hidden Valley Road

Inside the Mind of an American Family

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Hidden Valley Road

Written by: Robert Kolker
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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 #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

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century

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 twelve 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 ten 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, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope. Biological Sciences Medical Mental Health Professionals & Academics Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Science & Technology Social Sciences Health Inspiring Heartfelt Medical Fiction
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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!

Highly Recommend

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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

What an incredible story!

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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

best book I ever read

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Fantastic and compelling story that gives not only a tragic families history but the history of the illness thst afflicts them.

Amazing work

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If you love biographies, families dynamics and learning something new; in the case schizophrenia, you will LOVE this story.

Loved this book!

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