Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
Suzanne O'Malley
Feb 2004 · Sold by Simon and Schuster
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Suzanne O'Malley delivers the definitive account of the landmark trial of Andrea Yates—one that fundamentally altered the understanding of postpartum mental health. With a new introduction from the author.
An Unspeakable Crime by investigative journalist Suzanne O'Malley, previously published as Are You There Alone?, investigates the Andrea Yates case and the devastating intersection of postpartum psychosis, medical treatment, religious extremism, and the criminal justice system. On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five young children in their family home outside Houston, Texas. The killings shocked the nation and brought widespread attention to postpartum mental illness and the legal definition of insanity.
O'Malley began reporting on the case within hours of the tragedy. Drawing on extensive medical and court records and interviews with more than 120 people—including Andrea Yates, her husband Rusty Yates, relatives, friends, physicians, and preacher Michael Woroniecki—she reconstructs Andrea's deteriorating mental health, repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, and the religious teachings that influenced her delusions. Her investigation examines failures in Andrea's treatment and the decisions surrounding her care before the killings.
The book chronicles Yates's controversial first trial, her conviction for three murders, and her sentence of life in prison. That conviction was later overturned after prosecution psychiatrist Park Dietz gave false testimony about a nonexistent Law & Order episode that he suggested had inspired the crime. At her 2006 retrial, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a Texas state psychiatric hospital.
This new edition includes an introduction comparing the Yates case with the Lindsay Clancy case, along with previously undisclosed information from O'Malley's correspondence with Andrea during her imprisonment.
Both a deeply reported true-crime investigation and an examination of severe maternal mental illness, An Unspeakable Crime explores how psychiatric care, religious influence, media scrutiny, and the courts shaped the Andrea Yates case—and the lives forever changed by it.
An Unspeakable Crime by investigative journalist Suzanne O'Malley, previously published as Are You There Alone?, investigates the Andrea Yates case and the devastating intersection of postpartum psychosis, medical treatment, religious extremism, and the criminal justice system. On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five young children in their family home outside Houston, Texas. The killings shocked the nation and brought widespread attention to postpartum mental illness and the legal definition of insanity.
O'Malley began reporting on the case within hours of the tragedy. Drawing on extensive medical and court records and interviews with more than 120 people—including Andrea Yates, her husband Rusty Yates, relatives, friends, physicians, and preacher Michael Woroniecki—she reconstructs Andrea's deteriorating mental health, repeated psychiatric hospitalizations, and the religious teachings that influenced her delusions. Her investigation examines failures in Andrea's treatment and the decisions surrounding her care before the killings.
The book chronicles Yates's controversial first trial, her conviction for three murders, and her sentence of life in prison. That conviction was later overturned after prosecution psychiatrist Park Dietz gave false testimony about a nonexistent Law & Order episode that he suggested had inspired the crime. At her 2006 retrial, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a Texas state psychiatric hospital.
This new edition includes an introduction comparing the Yates case with the Lindsay Clancy case, along with previously undisclosed information from O'Malley's correspondence with Andrea during her imprisonment.
Both a deeply reported true-crime investigation and an examination of severe maternal mental illness, An Unspeakable Crime explores how psychiatric care, religious influence, media scrutiny, and the courts shaped the Andrea Yates case—and the lives forever changed by it.
Suzanne O'Malley delivers the definitive account of the landmark trial of Andrea Yates—one that fundamentally altered the understanding of postpartum mental health. With a new introduction from the author.
An Unspeakable Crime by investigative journalist Suzanne O'Malley, previously published a...
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Ratings and reviews
18 reviews
Jonas Absalom
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October 17, 2015
If only she got a proper treatment, those children might have been alive. We, what so called, sane peole would've never understand or tolerate her action, we could only wonder how could she did what she did and maybe hate her for wht she did. But I agree with Rusty's statement that to her all her delusions are her memories
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Suzane O'Malley is an editor, investigative reporter, screenwriter, documentary producer, and Poynter Grant recipient. She is best-known as a writer for Law & Order and for her dispatches from the Andrea Yates's postpartum psychosis filicide trials published in O, The Oprah Magazine and The New York Times. These articles became the foundation for her Edgar Award–nominated book, Are You There Alone? She is a member of Harvard's Program in Psychiatry and the Law; has been a lecturer at Yale and Writer-in-Residence at Rice; and on-air consultant for Dateline and MS-NOW. She belongs to the Writer's Guild of America, an AFL-CIO union.
Suzane O'Malley is an editor, investigative reporter, screenwriter, documentary producer, and Poynter Grant recipient. She is best-known as a writer for Law & Order and for her dispatches from the Andrea Yates's postpartum psychosis filicide trials published in O, The Oprah Magazine and The New Y...
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