Vivienne: The Life and Suicide of an Adolescent Girl

by John E. Mack, Holly Hickler

Fourteen-year-old Vivienne Loomis seemed to have everything to live for. Yet Vivienne hanged herself.

Genres: Biography

237 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1981

About the author

American psychiatrist, writer, and professor at Harvard Medical School.

He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, and a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien abduction experiences.

Reviews

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I confess, I read this while I was in High School, but it had a HUGE impact on me and my life. I honestly feel this is a book every parent should be required to read.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book in high school, for Reading Team actually, and Vivienne has stayed with me all this time even though she ended her life before I was even born. The first part of the book is Vivienne's story, filled with her journal entries and the many poems and letters she left behind. For such a young girl she was an incredibly gifted writer, and I'm glad to see that her writing aged so well in my memory. The last part of the book is a look at suicide, particularly teenage suicide, from a clinical aspect. Because this was written in the 70s when psychiatrists were just beginning to acknowledge depression in children and teens, some of the theories are outdated.

I will always wonder what Vivienne would have accomplished in her adulthood had she gotten the help she needed. I think our world would be a tiny bit better off if she were still in it.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I was forced to read this in a college course.

[sequoia spirit · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this book many years ago & it had a big impact on me.. 20 years later, it is still on my book shelf, i can't seem to part with it.. so i pulled it down and re-read it.. there's a little part of my in love with Vivienne.. her journal entries give the reader a peek inside her.. is this teenage angst when left to simmer? if she could have only gotten the help she needed, i bet she would've been a wonderful author.. RIP Vivienne.. still remembered..

[Marian]

I read the beginning part of this book - will likely try it again at a later date.
Reading this book feels intrusive, not in terms of the authors' approach (they take great care to be respectful) but just for the subject matter itself. You have to be in the right headspace to read it, and unfortunately I am not there right now.