Late one night Christopher (Kit) Lukas received a phone call with news that his brother, the gifted journalist J. Anthony Lukas, had committed suicide. Tragically their mother also committed suicide when they were young boys. Kit and his brother were never told how she died and no one spoke of the family’s history of depression and bipolar disorder. The legacy of guilt and grief haunted Kit and Tony throughout their lives.
Despite both brothers achieving remarkable success, Tony as a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, they suffered bouts of depression. Kit was able to confront his family’s troubled past and find happiness but Tony remained depressed which ultimately led him to take his own life.
Being that this book was a memoir I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. It may have helped if I was familiar with Tony’s writing or felt some sort of connection to the brothers but the writing just didn’t pull me in. I feel this was more personal for Kit than a story that needed to be shared. I can see where the book might be helpful for anyone who has been affected by a loved one’s suicide but it just didn’t click for me.