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Are You There Alone?

The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates

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Are You There Alone?

By: Suzanne O'Malley
Narrated by: Becky Ann Baker
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In the tradition of In Cold Blood, The Executioner’s Song, and A Civil Action, Suzanne O’Malley examines one of the most polarizing "crimes" and cases of postpartum psychosis of the 21st century (Andrea Yates’s drowning of her five young children).

On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five young children in their family home outside Houston. The crime shocked the nation—and launched one of the most closely scrutinized criminal cases involving mental illness, postpartum psychosis, religion, and the death penalty.

Investigative journalist Suzanne O’Malley followed the case from its first hours, interviewing more than 120 people, including Andrea Yates, her husband Rusty, family members, friends, physicians, and the secretive preacher Michael Woroniecki, whose teachings influenced Andrea’s religious delusions. Drawing on extensive medical and court records, O’Malley examines Andrea’s deteriorating mental health, her repeated hospitalizations, failures in her treatment, and the questions surrounding the care she received before the killings.

The book also chronicles the controversial first trial, in which Yates was convicted of three murders and sentenced to life in prison. That conviction was overturned after prosecution psychiatrist Park Dietz gave false testimony about a nonexistent Law & Order episode that allegedly inspired the killings. In 2006, at her retrial, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state psychiatric hospital. She has remained in psychiatric care in Texas, most recently at Kerrville State Hospital.

An Unspeakable Crime (previously titled Are You There Alone?) is both a deeply reported true-crime investigation and an examination of how severe mental illness, medical misjudgment, religious extremism, media pressure, and the criminal justice system intersected in the tragedy of an American nuclear family. O’Malley’s reporting offers a complex portrait of Andrea Yates and the people whose lives were forever changed by what happened. Gender Studies Law Murder Social Sciences True Crime Mental Illness Depression
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This book, it was hard to listen to at first. I, myself suffered for Post Natal Depression and Psychosis, left untreated for a year, so this story if very real to me, parts of it were too close to home. I felt every emotion that was written in this book, my heart aches for her and her family.

Heart breaking story

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As a true crime book it was as I would expect. Well researched and definitely heartbreaking to understand all the points that were not followed up to create this tragic story. As a book it was a bit of an essay. Meaning that it was to the point and nothing more or less. Definitely worth listening to as the story is worth the value of your time to understand. It is just not exciting.

True Crime

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A narrative of the facts leading up to, and following on from, the heartbreaking murders committed by Andrea Yates. It is written without judgement, and with a sympathetic slant towards Andrea, and her mental illness. The strongest impression I am left with is the mostly inadequate treatment she received under the mental health professionals she attended, except for one this was a shocking litany of failure to match symptoms to treatment. There is a lot of verbatim from interviews included here which I am not sure are all that necessary to understand the facts of this case.

The facts and nothing but the facts

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this is one boring read. he goes on and on about himself and he doesn't delve into this awful sad story more. I'm sorry but don't waste your time or money on this book

not worth listening to.

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