Book Description

Tadville by Joaquin Bowman Tadville is the story of growing up with undiagnosed mental illness, written from the perspective and experiences of a younger brother. The story, which spans a fifty-year period, begins in Hollywood, California, in the 1940s, where an aspiring actress forsakes her dream of glamour and remains home with her two boys in a destructive marriage. Infidelity and sometimes violent arguments become routine in the family life the author characterizes as the freak show. Tad, the older boy and subject of the story, enjoys the complete devotion of his mother, who labors to conceal his unusual characteristics, primarily associated with Asperger’s syndrome. When the Bowmans relocate to Pennsylvania, family life eventually dissolves into relationships where love and companionship are used as bargaining chips. Not until the author spends time with a warm and loving aunt and her large family does he realize how broken his family truly is. “Aunt Eleanor, my mother’s sister, was short, motherly, and kind. I envied my cousins, and as a seven-year-old kid, I wondered why our family couldn’t be more like theirs.” The sometimes sad and funny story moves quickly through the years until Tad, as an adult, refuses to relinquish the “game” he imagines himself winning, then finally admits defeat shortly before his death in 1994. Family members look back and remember the fatally flawed person they loved and, at times, feared. The story reveals the conspiracy of silence surrounding his illness and unusual behavior, a mistake that will affect future generations. Tadville, a brother’s story, profiles a world of fantasy, domination, power, and jealousy and will provide compelling reading. Hopefully, telling the story will prove beneficial to families who are struggling with mental health issues along with disorders on the autism spectrum, including Asperger’s.