BARBARA

Seeking to understand his parent’s undiagnosed mental illness, retired veteran Affield analyzes primary sources for a holistic view of his subject.

Continuing his investigation into his family’s past that he begun in Chickenhouse Chronicles(2017), the author compiles decades of diaries and letters to examine the life of his mother, Barbara, who died in 2010. Letters that she sent to and from the author’s maternal grandmother, Elsie, provide much of the insight into Barbara’s childhood. She was born in 1920 to parents who maintained a lavish lifestyle, on the surface at least, as the ’20s ended and the Great Depression began. Elsie wrote often to family members about Barbara’s “attacks” and how she isolated herself. Affield notes throughout how Barbara’s symptoms match his hypothesis that she suffered from borderline personality disorder; however, he’s cautious to note where his grandmother’s words may be unreliable, as she “often wrote in her diary after the fact so she could put a favorable spin on her own actions.” The transcribed diary entries and letters are sometimes tedious to read, but they’re also resoundingly thorough. If the goal of this project is to put in modern terms what didn’t have a name during his mother’s time, then it’s successful. The book is at its finest, however, when Affield inserts his own memories or observations, such as an assessment of a photo of his mother in “the trappings of affluence…her folded, gloved hands” as she sets sail for an ill-fated time in Europe at the dawn of World War II. He tracks correspondence between anxious family members following her troubled return to America; she changed her name and moved from suitor to suitor, “running from problems—a common borderline personality disorder defense mechanism,” which resulted in a mystery regarding the identity of Affield’s father. The book comes alive as the author begins to seek out information on his unknown parent in Part 3 and a genetic investigation plays out in emails and letters.

A comprehensive, if sometimes long-winded, familial study.