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CHRISTOPHER LUKAS'S SECOND, MORE PERSONAL BOOK on the aftermath of a suicide1 is a gem in its historical detail and contextual richness, yet frustrating because of the contradiction between the assertions he makes and the narrative he presents. That is, while Lukas claims that “blue” genes or genes that correlate with depression and bipolar illness are inherited, the story that he tells suggests otherwise. Understandably, Lukas is trying to make sense of the multiple suicides2 that have devastated his family, including the more recent suicide of his brother, two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author J. Anthony Lukas, which rattled him enough to set this book into motion. While Lukas wonders whether his brother's death was preordained, at the same time, and perhaps unwittingly, he provides substantial evidence that suggests a more complex interplay between biochemistry and unmourned traumatic loss.
To my mind, the story of the author's brother's suicide begins much earlier in time, with the tragic and troubled relationship between Lukas's mother, Elizabeth, and his grandmother, Missy.
Although Elizabeth would like to free herself from her mother's intrusive control, she is beset by terrible anxiety when she does act more autonomously. These dynamics emerge most dramatically when Elizabeth makes her first suicide attempt; they can also be seen in the most immediate events that lead up to her actually taking her life.