January First

A Child's Descent into Madness and Her Father's Struggle to Save Her

By: Michael Schofield

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

January First is a brilliant and harrowingly honest memoir. The story of Michael Schofield's daughter January's descent into scizophrenia, and her family's struggle to save her, will fascinate and move listeners. January First is the extraordinary story of a father's fight to save his child from an extremely severe case of mental illness in the face of overwhelming adversity.

©2012 Michael Schofield (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An unflinching portrait of the scourge of mental illness." ( Kirkus)

so engaging!!

Such a fascinating and heartbreaking story, didn't want to stop listening. Great title, definitely recommend!

moving story!

great book. great insight into schizophrenia. moving story between father and daughter. enjoyed this emotional roller coaster!

heartbreaking

it was hard to get into because of the narrator. he was clear, I'm not too sure what it was about his voice. maybe flat is the right word? but the story is fascinating. the whole time I wanted to scream out to the parents THIS IS WHAT SHE HAS! but it was humbling to listen to their journey as a family through something I'm not sure my own family would've survived.

Disturbing

This was such a sad story, but at the same time, I was disturbed by so many things this father said. It took away from the story for me. I found it horrifying when he kept talking about his daughter's superior IQ in front of her. I couldn't help but think this was contributing to some of the problems. He also wrote such disparaging things about his wife, like he was an excellent father and she didn't know how to parent this exceptional child. Both of them were really struggling, so to attack her seemed completely inappropriate and very self serving. I cannot imagine what they went through, as it was so awful, but the superior attitude of the writer kept drawing me away from the story.

captivating

this book was so fascinating. written and read with emotions you can feel. double thumbs up!