No one can ever fully answer the devastating question that suicide remains for those left behind, yet here, in Joan Wickersham's exquisitely straightforward story, I found surprising consolation. Having endured the suicide of a close family member, I opened this book with dread and longing: fearful of revisiting so much pain yet keenly wanting, as I always will, to understand why.

In its discipline and art, The Suicide Index has the feel of a classic., The Suicide Index is just astonishing. Against the violent transgression of suicide, Wickersham has crafted a consummately subtle book. Her absorbing narrative is suffused with a profound longing to understand what went wrong in her father's life.Joan Wickersham has journeyed into the dark underworld inside her father and herself, and has emerged with a powerful, gripping story., The Suicide Index is the daughter''s piercing and profoundly considered response to death. A powerful, important book., The Suicide Index is the daughter''s piercing and profoundly considered response to death â€¦ Brilliantâ€¦ Against the violent transgression of suicide, Wickersham has crafted a consummately subtle bookâ€¦ In its discipline and art, The Suicide Index has the feel of a classic., Wickersham refuses to settle for sentimental, simplistic answers. And she has created the perfect form in which to stage her inquiry. Part detective story, part anguished examination of a family, she traces the myriad repercussions suicide has not only on the future but also on the past. In this harrowing, beautifully written memoir, Joan Wickersham tries to understand the forces that drove her father to take his own life.

The Suicide Index by Joan Wickersham