MY LOVELY WIFE IN THE PSYCH WARD A Memoir

In this audio memoir, Mark Lukach shares what it is like to watch his beautiful wife, Giulia, suddenly experience a psychotic break and be hospitalized against her will, and then take care of her when she comes home, including doling out medications and hiding the rest so that she can't act on her suicidal impulses. He is scared, shocked, mystified, helpless, and angry. It's heartbreaking stuff to listen to, and narrator Josh Bloomberg is truly perfect. He conveys every emotion that Lukach expresses--devastation at Giulia's delusions and repeated hospitalizations, frustration with the inflexibility and inexactitude of the mental health system, sheer exhaustion and occasional resentment at being a caregiver, and joy at seeing the depression lift before his eyes in an aerobics class full of elderly Asian women. An important story and a lovely performance. A.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2017]