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While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence
Top of the pile
85
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
83/100Critics
88/100Scholars
Author:
Meg Kissinger
Publisher:
Celadon Books
Date:
September 5, 2023
A memoir of a family besieged by mental illness, as well as an exploration of the systems that failed them and a testament to the love that sustained them.
What The Reviewers Say
Electric.
A spellbinding account of one woman’s experience living through family trauma and a thoughtful attempt to reckon with the past. Kissinger asks tough questions and freely admits her own regrets while pointing out systemic problems with no easy answers..
Searing.
Kissinger identifies endemic problems in dealing with mentally ill individuals, including housing, social support, medical treatment, and hospitalization.
