International Best Seller
International Book Awards Finalist in Literary Fiction
About the Novel
Written by a psychiatrist, this gripping novel explores the boundaries between sanity and delusion as Margo Kerber unravels into postpartum psychotic depression after a tragic premature delivery. She will confront morally complex choices as she grapples with perinatal mental illness and searches for a path towards healing.
As it follows Margo from a loving shared home to a psychiatric hospital unit and a prosecuting attorney’s office, The End of Miracles is an emotionally intense and empathetic story of a good woman whose mental illness and deep drive for motherhood impel her to commit a shocking act with harrowing consequences for herself and others.
Margo Kerber, a wife, friend, volunteer and career woman, wants nothing more than to become a mother, but struggles with infertility. After the premature delivery of a baby who survives but a few hours, a wish-fulfilling fantasy initially brings relief from her deep grief. When reality inevitably shatters that fantasy, she unravels into a depression so deep she must be hospitalized in a psychiatric unit.
There, as doctors work to clarify her exact diagnosis and the best options for treatment, Margo feels frightened by the other patients and the sometimes-turbulent environment. Fearing that the unit is harming rather than helping her, she flees. Once outside, a chance encounter sparks another self-deception that impels her to impulsively commit a shocking act with very serious consequences. In its wake, as a prosecutor weighs the legal aspects of her actions, a skilled psychiatrist works with Margo to help her develop insights and coping skills and find a path towards healing.
Vividly written as well as psychiatrically accurate, the novel gives readers the experience of closely observing a woman’s inner and outer worlds. Illuminating as well as moving as it explores the deep drive for motherhood, the impact of infertility, and the experience of postpartum mental illness, The End of Miracles is emotionally intense, morally complex, and thoroughly suspenseful.
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