To be honest, I was very hesitant to even read this book. Like most people, when Andrea Yates killed her five children by drowning them in the family's bathtub, the only information I knew was what I heard from the media. I almost immediately formed my own opinion -- Andrea Yates was evil. So it took me awhile to open my mind to the fact that there could be more to the story.

Once I started reading ARE YOU THERE ALONE? I absolutely could not read fast enough. This book is fascinating in delving into the issue of mental illness, and what it truly means. I learned about psychosis, about postpartum depression, about bipolar disorder, and much, much more.

Although there are things I still don't understand (how Rusty Yates, Andrea's husband, could have left her alone with their children when he knew she was seriously mentally ill, for example), I have to say that I have a greater understanding of why Ms. Yates did what she did.

Hers was a horrific crime, and one for which she deserved to be punished. But she also deserved to get help for the problems that had plagued her for many years. For that, Suzanne O'Malley and the doctors, nurses, and many others involved in the case are to be commended. ( )

O'Malley's nonfiction account of Andrea Yates before and after the drownings does a good job of tracing relevant details, shedding some light on how they came to be. With the cooperation of the Yates family, O'Malley has researched Andrea's life from adolescence onward. We see Andrea as an adolescent, as a young college student, and finally as the wife of Rusty Yates, attempting to raise a growing number of young children in a remote trailer while he pursues a role in ministry. We are given an account of her prior breakdowns and hospitalizations, including inaccuracies in her file, inadequacies in her treatment, and the warning signs which ought to have been heeded long before. ( )