In Her Wake: A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her Mother's Suicide

(Basic Books)

In this memoir, the author tries to discover who her mother was and why she killed herself. At the time, Rappaport was 4 years old. Drawing on court depositions, newspaper coverage, her mother’s unpublished novel, and interviews, the author learns about the troubled life of her mother, a Boston socialite and community leader. Rappaport is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.