A memorable treatment of suicide.
For such a bleak subject, Mr. Gavron has made this memorial engaging and thought provoking. Following Gavron, who was only 4 years old when his mother committed suicide, through a painful search for the answer as to why she took her life, he discovers how sophisticated and well respected she was among academics as well as her progressive political community of the 1960s. Now, well into his 70s, Gavron puts pieces together that give him some sense of understanding he has spent a lifetime pursuing. Utilizing letters, photographs and her journal, he finds that his mother was struggling to find a means of getting her artistic, intellectual and passionate view to a listening public. As compassionately read by Gerard Doyle, one is left with more than a story of suicide. Here is a book that also gives understanding of the difficulty the middle of the twentieth century posed for ambitious women. Although carrying a sad overtone, this book is a must read for anyone who has found themselves at times depressed and distraught over the progress, or lack of, in becoming who one really is.