by Robert Kolker
Reviewed by Linda:
What an astonishing true story! The Galvin Family of Colorado was always exceptional owing to its size (10 sons and 2 daughters). Six of the sons were tragically hit with schizophrenia as each reached adulthood. Little was known about the disease in the 1960s and 70s, and the chaos and violence enveloping the family was seen by many experts as the mother's fault. The book came about when the two daughters, the youngest siblings, decided years later to find a writer to tell the family's story. The author gives every family member their due, and also explores how the family's genes have been used by researchers in the scientific quest to understand and cure the disease.