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The Widower's Notebook: A Memoir
by Jonathan SantloferWritten with unexpected humor and great warmth, The Widower's Notebook is a portrait of a marriage, an account of the complexities of finding oneself single again after losing your spouse, and a story of the enduring power of familial love."This is deeply moving ... beautifully written and modulated, with a dollop of droll, black humor. It is such an achievement, like running uphill against a strong wind."--Joyce Carol OatesOn a summer day in New York Jonathan Santlofer discovers his wife, Joy, gasping for breath on their living room couch. After a frenzied 911 call, an ambulance race across Manhattan, and hours pacing in a hospital waiting room, a doctor finally delivers the fateful news. Consumed by grief, Jonathan desperately tries to pursue life as he always had--writing, social engagements, and working on his art--but finds it nearly impossible to admit his deep feelings of loss to anyone, not even his to beloved daughter, Doria, or to himself. As Jonathan grieves and heals, he tries to unravel what happened to Joy, a journey that will take him nearly two years.
Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again
by Carol L JenkinsGet a fresh perspective on how older women adapt to life without a spouse! Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again examines new perspectives on the problems older women face adjusting to life without a spouse. The book examines the transition from the togetherness of marriage to the solitude of being suddenly single, exploring how older widows and divorcees adapt. A multidisciplinary panel of practitioners, researchers, and academics addresses the challenges facing elderly women after a divorce or the death of a spouse, including issues of physical and psychological well-being (clinical depression, nutrition), economics (reduced Social Security benefits, loss of pension income, health care costs), social support (public policy, counseling), and living arrangements. Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again presents fresh insights into the challenges single women face as they age, including disability and chronic health problems, threats to economic security, and the need for assistance with normal activities of daily living. The book examines the increased hospitalization risk for widowed older women, the protective efforts of social contacts, the impact of minority group status on projected retirement income, care arrangement choices, coping with bereavement, and the changing balance between co-residence with families and institutional care. Interviews, data projections, and research studies offer particular focus on women of Mexican-American and African-American descent, and women living in England and Wales, Africa, and the north and south Pacific. Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again addresses: the importance of family support the importance of religion and spirituality in coping with loss maintaining social connections maintaining independence the baby boom cohort and much more! Widows and Divorcees in Later Life: On Their Own Again is an insightful examination of the concerns, issues, and problems facing older women who live without a spouse but within specific social and cultural networks from which they receive support.
A Widow's Guide to Healing
by James Windell Kristin Meekhof"A very valuable and practical guide for any woman who has lost her husband due to an untimely death. Kristin Meekhof's journey is both inspiring and courageous and something we can all learn from." --Dr. Deepak ChopraAn inspiring, accessible, and empowering guide for how to navigate the unique stresses and challenges of widowhood and create a hopeful future.When Kristin Meekhof lost her husband to cancer, she discovered what all widows learn: the moment you lose your partner, you must make crucial decisions that will impact the rest of your life. But where do you begin? This inspiring book shows grieving widows what to expect and how to deal with the challenges of losing a life partner. From immediate issues like finances, estates and medical bills to long-term hurdles such as single parenthood, being a widow in the workplace and navigating social situations by yourself, this book guides widows through the tumultuous and painful first five years to a more hopeful future.
The Widows' Handbook
by Jacqueline Lapidus Lise MennWidows convey their feelings and survival strategies in this compelling anthologyThe Widows' Handbook is the first anthology of poems by contemporary widows, many of whom have written their way out of solitude and despair, distilling their strongest feelings into poetry or memoir. This stirring collection celebrates the strategies widows learn and the resources they muster to deal with people, living space, possessions, social life, and especially themselves, once shock has turned to the realization that nothing will ever be the same. As Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says in her foreword, losing one's partner is "a loss like no other. "The Widows' Handbook is a collection of poetry from 87 American women of all ages, legally married or not, straight and gay, whose partners or spouses have died. Some of the poets are already published widely--including more than a dozen prizewinners, four Pushcart nominees, and two regional poets laureate. Others are not as well known, and some appear in print for the first time here. With courage and wry humor, these women encounter insidious depression, poignant memories, bureaucratic nonsense, unfamiliar hardware, well-intentioned but thoughtless remarks, demanding work, spiritual revelation, and unexpected lust, navigating new relationships in the uncertain legacy of sexual liberation. They write frankly about being paralyzed and about going forward. Their poems are honest, beautiful, and accessible. Only poetry can speak such difficult truths and incite such intense empathy. While both men and women understand the bewilderment, solitude, and change of status thrust upon the widowed, women suffer a particular social demotion and isolation. Anyone who has lost a loved one or is involved in helping the bereaved will be able to relate to the experiences conveyed in The Widows' Handbook.
Widows' Words: Women Write on the Experience of Grief, the First Year, the Long Haul, and Everything in Between
by Ellen Schrecker Anne Bernays Kelli Dunham Lise Menn Kathryn Temple Merle Froschl Mimi Schwartz Alice Goode-Elman Penelope Dugan Melanie K Finney Raquel Ramkhelawan Maxine Marshall Lauren Vanett Alice Derry Michele Neff Hernandez Elisa Clark Wadham Deborah E Kaplan P. C. Moorehead Edie Butler Debby Mayer Sonia Jaffe Robbins Barbara Marwell Maggie Madagame Roni Sherman Ramos Doris Friedensohn Nancy H Womack Joan Michelson Tracy Milcendeau Andrea Hirshman Molly A McEneny Heather Slawecki Kathleen Fordyce Patricia Life Nancy Shamban Susanne Braham Alice Radosh Parvin Hajizadeh Jean Y Leung Joan Gussow Carrie L West Christine Silverstein Tara SabharwalBecoming a widow is one of the most traumatic life events that a woman can experience. Yet, as this remarkable new collection reveals, each woman responds to that trauma differently. Here, forty-three widows tell their stories, in their own words. Some were widowed young, while others were married for decades. Some cared for their late partners through long terminal illnesses, while others lost their partners suddenly. Some had male partners, while others had female partners. Yet each of these women faced the same basic dilemma: how to go on living when a part of you is gone. Widows’ Words is arranged chronologically, starting with stories of women preparing for their partners’ deaths, followed by the experiences of recent widows still reeling from their fresh loss, and culminating in the accounts of women who lost their partners many years ago but still experience waves of grief. Their accounts deal honestly with feelings of pain, sorrow, and despair, and yet there are also powerful expressions of strength, hope, and even joy. Whether you are a widow yourself or have simply experienced loss, you will be sure to find something moving and profound in these diverse tales of mourning, remembrance, and resilience.
Wie Gedanken unser Wohlbefinden beeinflussen
by Gustave-Nicolas Fischer Virginie Dodeler Jutta BretthauerDa es wohl kaum jemanden gibt, der nicht gesund sein und sich wohlfühlen möchte, sind Wellness, Gesundheit wie auch das Verständnis von Faktoren, die uns krank machen, von entscheidender Bedeutung. Gustave Nicolas Fischer und Virginie Dodler stellen die wichtigsten 100 Aha-Experimente auf diesem Gebiet kurzweilig und anschaulich dar. Durch die daraus resultierenden erstaunlichen Entdeckungen wird jeder Leser den Einfluss der Psyche auf die Gesundheit noch besser verstehen. Dazu gibt es praktische Lösungsansätze zur Begleitung auf dem Weg zum physischen Wohlbefinden.
Wie man Psychologie als empirische Wissenschaft betreibt: Wissenschaftstheoretische Grundlagen im Überblick (essentials)
by Peter Michael BakOb in Wissenschaft oder Praxis -psychologisch-empirisches Wissen basiert auf bestimmten Grundannahmen, deren Kenntnis bedeutsam für die Gewinnung, Beurteilung und Anwendung psychologischen Wissens ist. Die Psychologie versteht sich als empirische Wissenschaft. Die Kenntnis grundlegender wissenschaftlicher Konzepte ist daher für jeden professionell tätigen Psychologen Grundlage seines Handelns. Was ist eine Theorie? Wann ist eine Theorie gültig? Wie sehen psychologische Erklärungen aus? Was ist mit Falsifizierbarkeit gemeint? Was ist bei der Durchführung von Experimenten konzeptuell zu beachten? Welche Bedeutung haben Skalenniveaus? Dies sind nur einige Fragen, die in dem Buch anschaulich und prägnant beantwortet werden.
Wie Organisationen erfolgreich agil werden: Hinweise zur erfolgreichen Umsetzung in Zusammenarbeit und Strategie (essentials)
by Joachim Hasebrook Stefan Kirmße Martin FürstViele Unternehmen haben agile Methoden in ihren Arbeitsalltag integriert. Oft stellen sie fest, dass neue Ideen und Entwicklungsvorsprünge durch agile Arbeit von starren Organisationsstrukturen, Ziel- und Anreizsystemen ausgebremst werden. Agilität funktioniert nur, wenn zur agilen Zusammenarbeit auch agile Organisationsstrukturen und agile Unternehmensstrategien hinzukommen. Auf der Basis eigener Forschung und umfangreicher Projekterfahrungen zeigen die Autoren, für welche Unternehmensbereiche und Aufgaben Agilität geeignet ist und für welche nicht, welcher nachweisbare Nutzen und welche Risiken durch Agilität entstehen und wie der Weg zur agilen Organisation erfolgreich gemeistert werden kann.
Wie Supervision gelingt: Supervision als Coaching für helfende Berufe (essentials)
by Michael LoebbertSupervision wird von Michael Loebbert in diesem essential dezidiert als Coaching gefasst und diskutiert - das macht einen Unterschied: Der Autor zeigt, dass alle beteiligten Akteure sich an ihrer Leistung messen lassen d#65533;rfen und m#65533;ssen, ob und wie Hilfe wirklich gelingt. Mit diesem Ansatz kn#65533;pft er an die angels#65533;chsische Diskussion und Weiterentwicklung von Supervision als Beratungsform pers#65533;nlicher Prozessberatung f#65533;r helfende Berufe an. Spezifische Methoden, wie #65533;bertragungsanalyse mit SCORE und das Sieben-Augen-Modell f#65533;r Supervision werden zum ersten Mal auf Deutsch dargestellt.
Wie wollen wir leben?: Über unsere Zukunft entscheiden wir selbst
by Gerhard GründerStellen Sie sich auch die Frage, wie stark Ihr Denken, Ihr Fühlen und Ihr Verhalten durch Ihre Gene und Ihre Biologie bestimmt sind? Haben Sie Zweifel daran, dass der Eingriff in unsere Hirnchemie uns zu glücklicheren und zufriedeneren Menschen macht? Sind Sie skeptisch, dass Computeralgorithmen Ihr Wesen als Mensch erfassen können?Dieses Sachbuch stellt das Weltbild des „göttlichen Menschen“ (Harari), in dem der Mensch durch seine Biologie determiniert ist und die Medizin zu seiner Optimierung dient, infrage. Der Autor zeigt, dass wir die aktiven Gestalter unserer Lebensbedingungen sind und damit über die eigene physische und psychische Gesundheit bestimmen.Lassen Sie sich anregen zur Mitarbeit bei der Gestaltung der Zukunft einer menschlichen Gesellschaft, in der wir zu entscheiden haben, wo wir leben, wie wir miteinander leben, wie wir arbeiten und wie wir uns bilden. Zielgruppen:Ideal für alle, die sich für die Grundlagen von Hirnforschung, Psychologie und Psychiatrie interessieren und die sich Gedanken über das Wesen des Menschen und dessen Zukunft machen.Zum Autor: Prof. Dr. Gerhard Gründer, Psychiater und Psychotherapeut, ist Professor an der Universität Heidelberg. Er leitet die Abteilung für Molekulares Neuroimaging am Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit in Mannheim.
Wife Rape: Understanding the Response of Survivors and Service Providers
by Dr Raquel Kennedy BergenWith expertise and sensitivity, the author of this accessibly written volume addresses a real but long-neglected problem: the pain and humiliation of sexual assault suffered by many women at the hands of their partners. Extensive gathering of personal testimony from survivors, together with interviews with service providers, bears witness to a lack of validation and insufficient assistance currently available for such women. This volume gives hope to survivors and provides critical information for service providers to gain a better understanding of the seriousness of the problem.
Wild Awake
by Hilary T. SmithThings you earnestly believe will happen while your parents are away: 1. You will remember to water the azaleas. 2. You will take detailed, accurate messages. 3. You will call your older brother, Denny, if even the slightest thing goes wrong. 4. You and your best friend/bandmate, Lukas, will win Battle of the Bands. 5. Amid the thrill of victory, Lukas will finally realize you are the girl of his dreams. Things that actually happen: 1. A stranger calls who says he knew your sister. 2. He says he has her stuff. 3. What stuff? Her stuff. 4. You tell him your parents wont be able to--5. Sukey died five years ago; cant he--6. You pick up a pen. 7. You scribble down the address. 8. You get on your bike and go. 9. Things . . . get a little crazy after that. **Also, you fall in love, but not with Lukas. Both exhilarating and wrenching, Hilary T. Smiths debut novel captures the messy glory of being alive, as seventeen-year-old Kiri Byrd discovers love, loss, chaos, and murder woven into a summer of music, madness, piercing heartbreak, and intoxicating joy.
The Wild Child
by Jeffrey Moussaief MassonKept in a dungeon for his entire childhood, Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1828 at age sixteen, barely able to walk or talk. When he was killed in 1833, his true identity and the motives for his unsolved murder became the subjects of intense speculation. This provocative essay sheds new light on this mystery and delves into fundamental questions about the long-term effects of child abuse.
Wild Child: How You Can Help Your Child with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Other Behavioral Disorders
by Don MordasiniHow can you help the ADD child in your life?Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is one of the most discussed yet least understood childhood disorders today. Here is a book that delivers the answers people are looking for!Wild Child explains the symptoms, thinking patterns, and behavior of children and adolescents with ADD in terms that are understandable by parents and grandparents, yet relevant to the professionals who deal with these children. It outlines specific strategies that you can use to cope with the vast array of behavior, hyperactivity, and inattention problems experienced by children with ADD. The concepts outlined in Wild Child will show you how to bond more closely with children who tend to alienate them, and help children feel better about themselves, aiding them in their quest to master their specific challenges. Because this book is written from the inside, explaining what the symptoms feel like from the perspective of someone with ADD as well as from the perspective of someone with an ADD child, readers will easily identify with the author.This valuable book will help you and the ADD child in your life by helping you to: build your personal confidence in dealing with ADD children and teens through knowledge and understanding deal with specific problems in your family or patients build esteem and sound emotional infrastructures in ADD children and empower them to take control of their livesWild Child features: tables and motivational charts that illustrate how to work with an ADD child checklists that adults can use if the suggested interventions fail with a particular childADD is truly a hidden disability, and the children suffering with it are usually labeled wild, crazy, or stupid. This, of course, leads to low self-esteem and underachievement, but Wild Child stresses that new learning can and does take place when proper motivators are applied. This book provides concrete advice regarding what those motivators are and how and when to use them. Teaching adults to empower the children in their care is an important part of Wild Child. Without appropriate intervention, children with ADD frequently end up chemically addicted or in trouble with the law. This book can help prevent these things from occurring. This is a valuable resource for everyone who knows a child with ADD.
Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature
by Kathleen Dean MooreIn an effort to make sense of the deaths in quick succession of several loved ones, Kathleen Dean Moore turned to the comfort of the wild, making a series of solitary excursions into ancient forests, wild rivers, remote deserts, and windswept islands to learn what the environment could teach her in her time of pain. This book is the record of her experiences. It's a stunning collection of carefully observed accounts of her life--tracking otters on the beach, cooking breakfast in the desert, canoeing in a snow squall, wading among migrating salmon in the dark--but it is also a profound meditation on the healing power of nature. To learn more about the author, visit her website at www.riverwalking.com.
Wild Connection
by Jennifer L. VerdolinWild Kingdom meets Sex and the City in this scientific perspective on dating and relationships.A specialist in animal behavior compares the courtship rituals and mating behaviors of animals to their human equivalents, revealing the many and often surprising ways we are both similar to and different from other species.What makes an individual attractive to the opposite sex? Does size matter? Why do we tend to "keep score" in our relationships? From perfume and cosmetics to online dating and therapy, our ultimate goal is to successfully connect with someone. So why is romance such an effort for humans, while animals have little trouble getting it right? Wild Connection is full of fascinating and suggestive observations about animal behavior. For example, in most species smell is an important component of determining compatibility. So are we humans doing the right thing by masking our natural scents with soaps and colognes? Royal albatrosses have a lengthy courtship period lasting several years. These birds instinctively know that casual hook-ups are not the way to find a reliable mate. And older female chimpanzees often mate with younger males. Is this the evolutionary basis of the human "cougar" phenomenon?Fun to read as well as educational, this unique take on the perennial human quest to find the ideal mate shows that we have much to learn from our cousins in the wild.
Wild Desires and Mistaken Identities: Lesbianism and Psychoanalysis (Between Men, Between Women Ser.)
by Joanna Ryan Noreen O'ConnorThis groundbreaking book provides a challenging exploration of psychoanalytic ideas about lesbians and lesbianism. Based on the authors' clinical experience as psychoanalytic psychotherapists, it offers a new and thoughtful framework that does not inevitably pathologise or universalise all lesbianism. A wide range of psychoanalytic ideas are surveyed, from Freud, Deutsch and Jung to Lacan and contemporary object-relations theorists. Questions on sexual identity, sexual desire and gender identity, of transference and countertransference, and also of institutional practices in relation to training, are all critically - and stimunlatingly - addressed.
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief
by Michael Lerner Francis WellerNoted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it.The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow. Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Wild/lives: Trickster, Place and Liminality on Screen
by Terrie WaddellWild/lives draws on myth, popular culture and analytical psychology to trace the machinations of 'trickster' in contemporary film and television. This archetypal energy traditionally gravitates toward liminal spaces – physical locations and shifting states of mind. By focusing on productions set in remote or isolated spaces, Terrie Waddell explores how key trickster-infused sites of transition reflect the psychological fragility of their willing and unwilling occupants. In differing ways, the selected texts – Deadwood, Grizzly Man, Lost, Solaris, The Biggest Loser, Amores Perros and Repulsion – all play with inner and outer marginality. As this study demonstrates, the dramatic potential of transition is not always geared toward resolution. Prolonging the anxiety of change is an increasingly popular option. Trickster moves within this wildness and instability to agitate a form of dialogue between conscious and unconscious processes. Waddell's imaginative interpretation of screen material and her original positioning of trickster will inspire students of media, cinema, gender and Jungian studies, as well as academics with an interest in the application of Post-Jungian ideas to screen culture.
Wild Mind
by Bill PlotkinOur human psyches possess astonishing resources that wait within us, but we might not even know they exist until we discover how to access them and cultivate their powers, their untapped potentials and depths. Wild Mind identifies these resources -- which Bill Plotkin calls the four facets of the Self, or the four dimensions of our innate human wholeness -- and also the four sets of fragmented or wounded subpersonalities that form during childhood. Rather than proposing ways to eliminate our subpersonalities (which is not possible) or to beat them into submission, Plotkin describes how to cultivate the four facets of the Self and discover the gifts of our subpersonalities. The key to reclaiming our original wholeness is not merely to suppress psychological symptoms, recover from addictions and trauma, or manage stress but rather to fully embody our multifaceted wild minds, commit ourselves to the largest, soul-infused story we're capable of living, and serve the greater Earth community.
The Wild Other: A Memoir
by Clover Stroud'Beautifully written...I love this book.' India Knight'Compelling and candid, deftly weaving together past and present... a heart-wrenching story told in haunting, lyrical prose.' Tatler'An uplifting and achingly honest personal story about loss, trauma and grief.' Woman & HomeClover Stroud's idyllic childhood in rural England was shattered when a horrific riding accident left her mother permanently brain-damaged. Just sixteen, she embarked on a journey to find the sense of home that had been so savagely broken. Travelling from gypsy camps in Ireland, to the rodeos of west Texas and then to Russia's war-torn Caucasus, Clover eventually found her way back to England's lyrical Vale of the White Horse.The Wild Other is a grippingly honest account of love, loss, family and the healing strength of nature. Powerful and deeply emotional, this is the story of an extraordinary life lived at its fullest.
The Wild Path
by Sarah R. BaughmanThe Line Tender meets The Secret Horses of Briar Hill in this hopeful, heartfelt story about one girl's search for legendary horses and her quest to piece her family back together.Twelve-year-old Claire Barton doesn't like the "flutter feeling" that fills her chest when she worries about the future, but she knows what she loves: the land that's been in her family for three generations; her best friend Maya; her family's horses, Sunny and Sam; and her older brother Andy. That's why, with Andy recently sent to rehab and her parents planning to sell the horses, Claire's world feels like it might flutter to pieces.When Claire learns about equine therapy, she imagines a less lonely future that keeps her family together, brother and horses included. But, when she finds what seem to be mysterious wild horses in the woods behind her house, she realizes she has a bit more company than she bargained for. With this new secret -- and a little bit of luck -- Claire will discover the beauty of change, the power of family, and the strength within herself.
Wild Ride Home: Love, Loss, and a Little White Horse, a Family Memoir
by Christine HempAn amazingly joyous memoir told with humor and brilliant irony that illuminates the beauty of the absurdity that is life. Christine Hemp's debut work of nonfiction, Wild Ride Home, is a brilliant memoir, looping themes of finding love and losing love, of going away and coming home, of the wretched course of Alzheimer's, of cancer, of lost pregnancies, of fly fishing and horsemanship, of second chances, and, ultimately, of the triumph of love and family--all told within the framework of the training of a little white horse named Buddy. Wild Ride Home invites the reader into the close Hemp family, which believes beauty and humor outshine the most devastating circumstances. Such optimism is challenged when the author suffers a series of blows: a dangerous fiancé, her mother&’s dementia, unexpected death and illness. Buddy, a feisty, unforgettable little Arabian horse with his own history to overcome, offers her a chance to look back on her own life and learn to trust again, not only others, but more importantly, herself. Hemp skillfully guides us through a memoir that is, despite devastating loss, above all, an ode to joy.
Wild Thoughts Searching for a Thinker: A Clinical Application of W.R. Bion's Theories
by Rafael E. Lopez-CorvoFreud, Klein and Bion have provided the most relevant and substantial contributions to psychoanalytical theory and praxis. Klein was very much Freudian and Bion was both. There is undoubtedly a progressive epistemological evolution in their creativity; it will be similar to observe the same phenomenon by changing the objective of a microscope from a lower to a higher resolution power. It will be of lesser advantage for the understanding of the mind, to disregard this analogy and to accept as true that psychoanalysis, like religion, represents different beliefs. There is only one mind, but different viewers. Wild Thoughts Searching for a Thinker is essentially a clinical book that explores the connections between some of Bion's novel theories and those from Classical Psychoanalysis, mainly contributions from Freud, Klein and Winnicott. It also represents a substantial endeavour to make Bion not only more accessible to readers, but also and very important, to see his theories at work, in direct practical use during the here and now interaction throughout the consulting hour.
The Wilderness of Ruin
by Roseanne MontilloAn enthralling tale of madness and murder, set against the backdrop of Boston's Great Fire and America's Gilded AgeIn 1871, young children were disappearing from Boston's working- class neighborhoods. The few who returned told desperate tales of being taken to the woods and tortured by a boy not much older than themselves. The police were skeptical--these children were from poor families, so their testimony was easily discounted. And after the Great Boston Fire of 1872 reduced much of downtown to rubble, the city had more pressing concerns. Finally, when the police apprehended Jesse Pomeroy for the crimes, he, like any twelve-year-old, was sent off to reform school. Little thought was given to the danger he might pose to society, despite victims' chilling reports of this affectless Boy Torturer.Sixteen months later, Jesse was released in the care of his mother, and within months a ten-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy went missing, their mutilated bodies later discovered by police. This set off a frantic hunt for Pomeroy, who was now proclaimed America's youngest serial killer. When he was captured and brought to trial, his case transfixed the nation, and two public figures--Herman Melville and Oliver Wendell Holmes--each probed the depths of Pomeroy's character in a search for the meaning behind his madness.Roseanne Montillo, author of the acclaimed The Lady and Her Monsters, takes us inside those harrowing years, as a city reeling from great disaster reckoned with the moral quandaries posed by Pomeroy's spree. What makes a person good or evil? How do we develop as moral beings? At what age do we hold someone responsible for violating society's moral code? And what does our fascination with such ghastly deeds reveal about us?The Wilderness of Ruin is a dazzling combination of true-crime thrills, a fresh perspective on mental illness, and a fascinating look at American class turmoil that captures the spirit of a turbulent age.