Bob Rowe and his wife Mary worked hard to build their American dream. A suburban home, barbecues in the summer, and a fast track corporate job made their life look ideal to outsiders. Yet they faced one of the most difficult challenges for a couple: their son Christopher was born severely handicapped and disabled. As a family, they managed to navigate through the tough times by being hands-on parents. Their efforts were emboldened by a group of extraordinary women - all of whom also had disabled children - who acted as a support system for one another.

Yet something slowly began to happen to Rowe . . . His deceased mother's voice started to reverberate in his head instructing him to murder his family; reality disintegrated and a new job was lost when it proved too overwhelming. Finally a short stay in a psychiatric hospital did nothing to quell his sudden volatility . . . In a horribly violent act, he killed his wife and children.

Seen through the eyes and thoughts of Rowe's friends and second wife (whom he married on release from the psychiatric hospital where he spent just a few years for the murder of his family), Salamon braids the story of a man's roller coaster life (from ideal family man to murderer to someone struggling for redemption) with the touching and heroic tales of the mothers who were left looking on in shock at the tragedy no one ever could have anticipated.

This book takes the reader on a roller coaster ride from hope to murder, and finally to reconciliation. It's the true story of a man who cannot cope with a handicapped child, so he kills his wife and children, then attempts to redeem his life after a stay in a mental hospital. It is difficult to listen to, but Sandra Burr's excellent narration makes it all worthwhile. She has an even, soft, assured voice that leads us through this tragic tale and allows us to recover before the journey toward rehabilitation and healing begins. She reads purposefully and with pathos, but never gets maudlin or sappy. Burr gets stronger as the story moves forward, and she truly captures the author's tone and intent. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

 

Julie Salamon was a film critic and a reporter for The Wall Street Journal for sixteen years and was recently appointed as a television critic for The New York Times. She is the author of The Devil's Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood, White Lies, The Net of Dreams, and the New York Times bestseller The Christmas Tree.

Facing the Wind by Julie Salamon
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