He told me that if anyone knew who the baby’s father was, it would be bad for him. I tried to tell him that the father was an artist, but he told me that wasn’t true. He was a patient in the mental hospital. A very serious case. He should never have let his daughter anywhere near him. When Elizabeth Schuyler went away to school he killed himself. Would you want the baby growing up to know that about his father?
No, I wouldn’t.
And if people knew the mother was Libby, she’d lose her opportunity to finish college and continue her career. Did I want that?
No, I didn’t.
It was easier, he told me, to say the baby was mine. Would that be okay?
I told him it was. I already thought of the baby as mine. We were connected—Libby, the baby, and I—by that red thread. We’d always be connected. Dr. Bennett has given me a red ribbon to tie the journal closed when I am done writing. That way we will all be safe—Libby, the baby, and I. Dr. Bennett says I can have a red ribbon to tie around my wrist too, so I’ll always remember to keep quiet. So I’ll always remember why I have to be. I told him he could count on me. I’d do anything to keep Libby and our baby safe. Anything at all.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my always elegant and inexhaustible agent, Robin Rue, and her wonderful assistant, Beth Miller, for their support and encouragement. Thanks to Margaux Weisman for acquiring this novel, and to Kate Nintzel for becoming its adoptive mother and guiding it into maturity with insight and grace. Thanks to all the nurturers of this book at William Morrow.
Researching and writing about postpartum mood disorders has been challenging and at times daunting. I want to thank the women who have shared their stories with me, starting with my mother, who told me that when she experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after the birth of her second child she was unable to tell anyone what she was going through. I also want to acknowledge the women and their families who have experienced postpartum mood disorders. The story Daphne hears about the woman who jumped out of a window with her baby in a Snugli is loosely based on a real-life story. Postpartum mood disorders are a terrible, under-discussed mental illness that I hope we can begin discussing more honestly. There are ways to get help if you think you are struggling. I found Teresa Twomey’s book Understanding Postpartum Psychosis: A Temporary Madness informative and inspiring. Thank you, Teresa, for continuing the conversation with me in the P.S. Section of this book and for recommending www.postpartum.net as a resource for struggling mothers and their families and friends.
In writing this book, I was transported back to the period when I first became a mother. While it was in some ways an isolating experience, I was fortunate to have a world of support in my parents, Marge and Walter Goodman; my husband, Lee Slonimsky; my step-daughter, Nora Slonimsky; my brothers, Larry and Bob Goodman; my sister-in-law, Nancy Goodman; and my friends Gary Feinberg, Connie Crawford, and Scott Silverman. As a wise woman once said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” I’ve been fortunate to have a village of wise women. Thank you to the other mothers who have shared the journey: Eileen MacDonald Amon, Roberta Andersen, Amy Avnet, Laurie Bower, Juliet Harrison, Alisa Kwitney, Lauren Lipton, Mindy Ohringer, Wendy Gold Rossi, Cathy Cole Seilhan, and Ethel Wesdorp.
And thanks, finally, to my daughter, Maggie, who has made being a mother the best thing that ever happened to me.
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . .*
About the Author
Meet Carol Goodman
About the Book
An Interview with Teresa M. Twomey
Reading Group Guide
Read On
An Excerpt from The Widow’s House
About the AuthorMeet Carol Goodman
CAROL GOODMAN is the critically acclaimed author of twenty novels, including The Lake of Dead Languages and The Seduction of Water, which won the Hammett Prize. Her books have been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her family, and teaches creative writing at the New School and SUNY New Paltz.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
About the BookAn Interview with Teresa M. Twomey
In researching The Other Mother, I found Teresa M. Twomey’s book Understanding Postpartum Pyschosis: A Temporary Madness informative and inspiring. I spoke with Ms. Twomey so that she could shed more light on the experience of postpartum mood disorder.
CG: What first inspired you to write a book on postpartum psychosis?
TT: I had a mood disorder crisis after my first pregnancy, but I didn’t hear the term postpartum psychosis until I was on bed rest during my second pregnancy. I knew something was wrong, but in spite of having problems and telling people I could not cope, I didn’t get professional help. I had to piece it together on my own. My initial reaction after I’d recovered was that I wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened. But then when I read about Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her five children while suffering from postpartum psychosis, I knew someone had to write a book about the subject. It took me some time to decide that that person would be me. I thought that the book should come from someone who had nothing to gain and everything to lose—unlike a woman in prison who might be accused of being self-serving. While I realized that going public with my own experience with postpartum psychosis would be opening myself up to professional and personal stigma, I knew it would be an important book. When I learned how serious
