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    Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
    Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
    Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
    Audiobook (abridged)7 hours

    Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates

    Written by Suzanne O'Malley

    Narrated by Becky Ann Baker

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    About this audiobook

    Suzanne O'Malley takes a close look at the Andrea Yates murder trial and discovers medical misjudgment, professional negligence, misapplied law, and a revelation that led to the overturning of Yates's conviction.

    It took a jury less than four hours to find Houston housewife Andrea Yates guilty of the drowning deaths of three of her five children—and a mere half hour to sentence the troubled woman with a stunning history of severe mental problems to life in prison. But beyond the media coverage of her heinous crimes, there is a story that only investigative reporter Suzanne O'Malley has fully illuminated.

    This updated edition of Are You There Alone? features a new chapter on the appeal of the Yates case, as well as personal updates on both Andrea and Rusty Yates. Having drawn upon hundreds of interviews—with expert witnesses, close friends, family advisers, and Andrea and Rusty themselves—O'Malley has produced a riveting true-crime account that shatters our notions about criminal law, mental illness, death-penalty politics, and religious fanaticism in America today.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 1, 2004
    ISBN9780743539296
    Author

    Suzanne O'Malley

    Suzanne O'Malley's investigative reports on the Yates trial appeared in the New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; and on Dateline NBC. She has written for the New York Times Book Review, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, Salon.com, and Texas Monthly, and has been a producer and consultant for NBC and MSNBC. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in New York City and Houston. Visit www.suzanneomalley.com.

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    Reviews for Are You There Alone?

    4/5

    135 ratings14 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Way too preachy - not why I’m reading a true crime book tbh
    • 5/5
      Such a tragic, incomprehensible story, the author has done a great job, bringing us the facts; it’s very obviously a meticulously researched and considered account of a woman’s descent into severe mental illness, and the horror that ensued.
      Very interesting insights into America’s approach and attitudes toward mental health, in particular, women’s mental health, as it collides with public opinion, the justice system and the reliance on one’s health care providers, to bring clarity and relief to those affected by the horrors and distress of psychiatric illness.
      Great narration throughout.
    • 5/5
      Wow! This was a very insightful recollection of this person's crimes and sickness. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. The retelling of the events made me feel like I had a front-row seat to the events that took place. What a great book!
    • 5/5
      Very well written and amazingly narrated. This book provides more facts and informations about the case than all the media coverage did over the years. This trial was a real shame for the US justice system
    • 5/5
      Excellent research. Extremely sad story however so many suffer from mental health issues. Children Rest In Peace
    • 5/5
      This tragic crime happened when I was in HS, so I heard about it but not much. Now, as a mom of a toddler, this was a crazy book to listen to. I enjoyed it being told by the facts and not an opinion. Crazy to think how hormones can play such a huge role in things. So many what-ifs!
    • 5/5
      I found the analysis of mental illness interesting and the.medications for treatment so relies on the correct diagnosis.A very sad story.
    • 5/5
      Not a dull moment . A must to finish. Educating
    • 5/5
      This book had me waffling many times between anger at Andrea Yates, for her brutal drowning of her five children, and anger at her husband, Rusty, for doing nothing, or almost nothing, so it seemed, to help his wife. The medical community was another entity that won a lot of my anger for their seemingly misdiagnoses or faulty treatment of Andrea Yates throughout the years that she battled mental illness.

      The main character, Andrea Yates, does not say much in Are You There Alone? Throughout almost the whole story she says very little so it is hard to really get to know much about her other than that she suffers from some form of mental illness. Andreas’ illness, postpartum depression with psychotic features (this is just one of the diagnoses given for the illness that this young mother suffers from), also known as postpartum psychosis presents itself just shortly before and after the murders. That does not stop the reader from knowing that something terrible is in the wind.

      Rusty Yates character is not really seen in this novel either. There is some stories from the past that are brought out in an attempt to show what type of person he is but the character himself is seldom heard from. Rusty is seen more the day his five children are murdered by their mother and a few other times throughout this story. In spite of this or because of this I am left with a question regarding Rusty: Why did you not take some type of action to help your wife?

      Suzanne O’Malley presents a story in which it appears as though Rusty Yates did not do much to aid his wife throughout her illness and he did not seem to be present much of the time. I felt like he knew there was something terribly wrong with his wife yet he chose to stay at work, at times not taking Andrea to the hospital or to see a doctor until it was too late and she was seriously ill and needing heavy sedation and medical attention. I also am left with another question for Rusty: How could you leave your five small children alone with someone so sick?

      The cast of characters in Are You There Alone also includes the Woroniekis who practice their religion fanatically and are instrumental in giving Andrea religious advice which is then misinterpreted by her. This advice will eventually lead Andrea down a very dark path in which there will seemingly be no escape except by drowning her small children.

      Are You There Alone? The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates gives us much reason to question a diagnoses by doctors who are either too busy to treat patients carefully or are not educated properly in all the nuances of a mental illness. It is scary that there seem to be many people who suffer through a mental illness and may never get the proper treatment. Suzanne O’Malley does a fantastic job of creating an opening for discussion and change in the treatment of the mentally ill.

      This was a poignant story of one woman’s decent into mental illness and the result of misdiagnoses and mistreatment of this young mother. As I stated at the beginning, I waffled in my feelings for Andrea Yates between anger and being sympathetic to her. I do hope that she will eventually be given the correct treatment and can come to terms with the horribly unspeakable thing she has done to her children and to her husband as well.
    • 2/5
      As far as a reporting of facts go this book was spot on. The author was well researched and her devotion to the case was clear. But dry, dry, dry this book was for reading. Many times I wanted to put it away but kept hoping the writing style would change. It didn't and I was very disappointed.
    • 3/5
      Wow! I never imagined how mentally disturbed this young woman was. That by no means excuses the actions of Andrea Yates who drowns her five children in the bath tub in order for them to gain their "salvation." This book offers an intriguing look into her motivations and thoughts. It makes you question her doctors, her family, and those who were around her on a daily basis to allow her the opportunity to be alone with the children. This book would drag at times and is not the best true crime book I've read, but was fascinating - and sad - nonetheless.
    • 4/5
      Heartbreaking book to read.
    • 4/5
      Tragically sad. Mental health issues come to light and we realize the many failures of our mental health system.
    • 4/5
      O'Malley's nonfiction account of Andrea Yates before and after the drownings does a good job of tracing relevant details, shedding some light on how they came to be. With the cooperation of the Yates family, O'Malley has researched Andrea's life from adolescence onward. We see Andrea as an adolescent, as a young college student, and finally as the wife of Rusty Yates, attempting to raise a growing number of young children in a remote trailer while he pursues a role in ministry. We are given an account of her prior breakdowns and hospitalizations, including inaccuracies in her file, inadequacies in her treatment, and the warning signs which ought to have been heeded long before.