WHILE YOU WERE OUT An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence

Journalist Meg Kissinger gives a stellar narration of her extraordinarily affecting memoir about growing up in the 1960s in a close-knit Irish-Catholic family of eight children, many of whom were afflicted with mental illness. Kissinger's father suffered from bipolar disorder, her mother was hospitalized for depression during Kissinger's childhood, and she lost a brother and sister to suicide. Kissinger sensitively takes listeners into the climate of those times, when mental disorders were a taboo subject and those afflicted often suffered in silence and with great shame. Yet this memoir, especially as it moves to the present day, is filled with moments of compassion and emotional support among family members. This unforgettable memoir is the perfect guide for listeners seeking to better understand the impact of mental illness on families. M.J. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2023 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2023]