Hidden Valley Road

By: Robert Kolker

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

12 children.

6 of them diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Science's greatest hope in understanding the disease.

One of Barack Obama's Favourite Books of 2020

TIME 100 Must-Read Books Of 2020 Pick

New York Times best seller

Selected as Oprah's Book Club Pick

For fans of Educated, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Three Identical Strangers.

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 12 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 10 Galvin boys, one after the other, 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 Institutes of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalisation, lobotomy and the schizophrenogenic mother, to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amidst 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.

©2020 Robert Kolker (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Hidden Valley Road contains everything: scientific intrigue, meticulous reporting, startling revelations and, most of all, a profound sense of humanity. It is that rare book that can be read again and again." (David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon)

"An extraordinary case study and tour de force of reporting." (Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind)

"This book tore my heart out. It is a revelation-about the history of mental health treatment, about trauma, foremost about family and a more-than-worthy follow-up to Robert Kolker's brilliant Lost Girls." (Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and Give Me Your Hand)

Absolutely riveting

As a former psychology student, I was absolutely fascinated by this account. One of my favourite aspects of my psychology course was getting to watch three patients suffering from Schizophrenia tell my class their life history. One can only imagine how difficult it must be living with someone with this disorder. This book has clarified gone to great lengths to clarify this.