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(More customer reviews)This is the story, narrative, journey of Millicent Monks. Call it what you will it is a fascinating story of, as she calls it "a story mental illness in an iconic American family." She is the great granddaughter of the brother of Andrew Carnegie. The book chronicles the lives of her mother herself and her daughter. As a therapist I found the book to be extremely engaging. Millicent chronicles the guilt and shame she experienced in being disengaged from a mother who at the best suffered from major depressive disorder and at the worst schizophrenia. Her mother is not alive to attempt diagnosis.
Millicent recounts that she was born at the end of the dpression which would put her roughly in her 80's at this point. The book is written with an excellent grasp of the history of one's family. Specifics and details abound.
Millicent (I feel I am so familiar with her life that I can refer to her by her first name) moves from her own life to the life of her daughter. Millicent posits a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder for Sandra her daughter. She chronicles the stays in various mental institutions and the ensuing alcohol abuse. This book is a study in the genetic/environmental transmission of mental illness. This disorder passed through three generations from grandmother to grand daughter.
If you appreciate excellent writing you will thoroughly enjoy this book. The detail, the vividness, the ethos is brought out in every word. Millicent's journey through mental affliction herself is a journey of courage hope and strength. The use of words places one in the very spot she is portraying and helps the reader to appreciate that she knows of what she speaks. In my humble opinion a true wordsmith crafted this book. I understand editorial contribution but I don't think an editor could have suggested or even written in the vividness that encapsulates this book. If you have any compassion for those who struggle with mental illness you owe it to yourself to be come acquainted with Millicent's journey. I highly, highly recommend the book
Click Here to see more reviews about: Songs of Three Islands: A Story of Mental Illness in an Iconic American Family
Millicent Monks was born into one of the most famous families in America; her great-grandfather was the brother of Andrew Carnegie.Their fabled wealth enabled them to amass great houses and even private islands, but it was a dynasty torn apart by a succession of tragedies: suicide, alcoholism, and extremities of mental illness were passed on from generation to generation.For the women in the family, the consequences of this legacy have been painful. After a difficult childhood, the author's daughter was diagnosed at the age of eighteen with what is now known as borderline personality disorder, a debilitating mental illness that was for the parents-in the words of the novelist Sebastian Faulks-"a public shame as well as private devastation."Like all mothers of children afflicted with this condition, Monks suffered from guilt and self-recrimination as she struggled to heal a disease that had no cause but for which she was held responsible.In the end, through the intervention of a wise Jungian therapist, meditation, and-most important of all-acceptance, the author achieves a self-insight that enables her and her daughter to arrive at a delicate peace. Songs of Three Islands powerfully demonstrates that we are not defined by our inheritance alone.
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