Sunday, April 22, 2012

Sara Paretsky's 2012 Novel - Some Information About Mental Health

Sara Paretsky's 2012 novel Breakdown stays far from revealing the identity of the killer until close to the end.  The private detective, V.I. Warshawski, parks her car and walks into the action, in a cemetery in a dark and stormy rainy night.  We are with her as she works at gaining information, meeting characters, and continuing situations with her supportive friends.  "You need to go right into the hospital," her friend the doctor says to her, and a familiar conversation continues in a familiar way. 

People in our time have only an incomplete overview of psychology and psychiatry as a part of public life and this inadequate awareness is addressed in the novel.  General information and details about mental health are included in Breakdown - the power of psychotropic medication, the danger of overdose and mixing with alcohol.  Unequal quality of care, and details about, especially, a colleague of V. I. Warshawski who has a bipolar disorder that is severe, are included in the story.   

After a time on the list at the library, I read Breakdown by Sara Paretsky and am returning it - it is Earth Day, on my bike ride earlier I saw a blue jay.  It is supposed to be 75 degrees today.

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