Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates

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, show more 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. show less

This book had me waffling many times between anger at Andrea Yates, for her brutal drowning of her five children, and anger at her husband, Rusty, for doing nothing, or almost nothing, so it seemed, to help his wife. The medical community was another entity that won a lot of my anger for their seemingly misdiagnoses or faulty treatment of Andrea Yates throughout the years that she battled mental illness.

The main character, Andrea Yates, does not say much in Are You There Alone? Throughout almost the whole story she says very little so it is hard to really get to know much about her other than that she suffers from some form of mental illness. Andreas’ illness, postpartum depression with psychotic features (this is just one of the show more diagnoses given for the illness that this young mother suffers from), also known as postpartum psychosis presents itself just shortly before and after the murders. That does not stop the reader from knowing that something terrible is in the wind.

Rusty Yates character is not really seen in this novel either. There is some stories from the past that are brought out in an attempt to show what type of person he is but the character himself is seldom heard from. Rusty is seen more the day his five children are murdered by their mother and a few other times throughout this story. In spite of this or because of this I am left with a question regarding Rusty: Why did you not take some type of action to help your wife?

Suzanne O’Malley presents a story in which it appears as though Rusty Yates did not do much to aid his wife throughout her illness and he did not seem to be present much of the time. I felt like he knew there was something terribly wrong with his wife yet he chose to stay at work, at times not taking Andrea to the hospital or to see a doctor until it was too late and she was seriously ill and needing heavy sedation and medical attention. I also am left with another question for Rusty: How could you leave your five small children alone with someone so sick?

The cast of characters in Are You There Alone also includes the Woroniekis who practice their religion fanatically and are instrumental in giving Andrea religious advice which is then misinterpreted by her. This advice will eventually lead Andrea down a very dark path in which there will seemingly be no escape except by drowning her small children.

Are You There Alone? The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates gives us much reason to question a diagnoses by doctors who are either too busy to treat patients carefully or are not educated properly in all the nuances of a mental illness. It is scary that there seem to be many people who suffer through a mental illness and may never get the proper treatment. Suzanne O’Malley does a fantastic job of creating an opening for discussion and change in the treatment of the mentally ill.

This was a poignant story of one woman’s decent into mental illness and the result of misdiagnoses and mistreatment of this young mother. As I stated at the beginning, I waffled in my feelings for Andrea Yates between anger and being sympathetic to her. I do hope that she will eventually be given the correct treatment and can come to terms with the horribly unspeakable thing she has done to her children and to her husband as well. show less

3.5

Wow! I never imagined how mentally disturbed this young woman was. That by no means excuses the actions of Andrea Yates who drowns her five children in the bath tub in order for them to gain their "salvation." This book offers an intriguing look into her motivations and thoughts. It makes you question her doctors, her family, and those who were around her on a daily basis to allow her the opportunity to be alone with the children. This book would drag at times and is not the best true crime book I've read, but was fascinating - and sad - nonetheless.

As far as a reporting of facts go this book was spot on. The author was well researched and her devotion to the case was clear. But dry, dry, dry this book was for reading. Many times I wanted to put it away but kept hoping the writing style would change. It didn't and I was very disappointed.

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.

Tragically sad. Mental health issues come to light and we realize the many failures of our mental health system.