Going under

the long version

The haunting story of a woman's journey to Bedlam, and the ramifications for her children when she fails to make it back. On the surface, the Tillotsons seem to be going places: handsome Don with his fast-track career, beautiful Jerri who could be a movie star, and their two children, Jeff and Meena. But Don's philandering and Jerri's drinking and mental instability soon tear the family apart. Set in the 196Os and told from the children's point of view, Going Under is a poignant tale about the darker side of the human spirit and the consequences for those least prepared to understand or articulate them. William Luvaas has crafted an unsentimental portrait of a family in crisis at a time when even the "experts" were hard-put to identify such ills as alcoholism and sexual abuse, and to intervene effectively. Going Under is a moving tale of a mother's ultimate sacrifice and her children's struggle to surface to sanity after a tumultuous youth.