In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother’s Suicide is a 2009 memoir by American psychiatrist Nancy Rappaport. The book recounts Rappaport’s deeply personal journey to understand her mother’s suicide when she was just four years old. Decades later, as a mother and a psychiatrist specializing in suicidal youth, Rappaport begins to piece together her mother’s story after receiving a trunk of personal mementos. The memoir combines personal reflection and professional insight, blending her family’s history with psychiatric theories about suicide. Rappaport delves into her parents’ high-profile Boston lives, including her mother’s activism and affair, which culminated in a bitter custody battle and, ultimately, her mother’s tragic death. Through journals, letters, and interviews with surviving figures, Rappaport reconstructs the complex portrait of a woman struggling with depression, loss, and societal pressures. Though some critics found the memoir overly clinical, others praised Rappaport’s courage and emotional honesty. Beyond uncovering her mother’s past, Rappaport reflects on the enduring impact of her mother’s death on her family, her work, and her own healing. The book underscores the profound, lasting wounds of suicide and the potential for connection and resilience through shared stories.
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