After spending weeks following the Lindsay Clancy trial, I’ve received so many messages from people asking what to read next.
Some of you want to better understand postpartum psychosis and what it can actually feel like for the person experiencing it. Some want books exploring motherhood, mental health and the enormous disconnect that can sometimes exist between what a woman appears to be experiencing on the outside and what is happening internally.
And then there are those of you who apparently spent so much time analyzing testimony, expert witnesses and jury deliberations that you now want a fictional murder trial to obsess over.
I get it.
So I put together a reading list that covers all of it – firsthand memoirs about postpartum psychosis and maternal mental illness, fiction exploring the darker and more complicated sides of motherhood, psychological thrillers and some seriously addictive courtroom and jury dramas.
The memoirs and nonfiction books below can help readers understand lived experiences of postpartum mental illness. The fictional thrillers cannot.
Postpartum psychosis is a serious psychiatric emergency, and people experiencing it are far more complex than the frightening portrayals of mental illness we sometimes see in fiction. I’m including psychological thrillers because so many of you specifically asked for them too.
Memoirs About Postpartum Psychosis & Maternal Mental Health
1. From Playgrounds to Psych Wards – Amanda Taylor & Colby Taylor
Start here if the Lindsay Clancy trial made you want to understand postpartum psychosis.
What makes this memoir especially interesting is that we don’t only hear from the mother who experienced postpartum psychosis. Amanda and her husband, Colby, tell the story from their respective perspectives.
That means readers get a glimpse into what was happening inside her reality while also seeing what the person closest to her was witnessing from the outside.
After hearing so much testimony during the Clancy trial about Lindsay’s behavior, what Patrick observed, what doctors observed and what Lindsay later reported experiencing internally, I think that dual perspective makes this an especially worthwhile read. It is SUCH a GOOD book.
2. A Mom Like That – Aaisha Alvi
A Mom Like That: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis gives readers something a criminal trial simply cannot: a firsthand account from a woman who actually experienced postpartum psychosis.
The author writes about motherhood, severe mental illness and recovery, making this one I’d recommend to anyone who came away from the trial realizing just how little we collectively understand about postpartum psychosis.
3. Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness – Catherine Cho
Catherine Cho’s memoir chronicles her experience with postpartum psychosis and psychiatric hospitalization after becoming a mother.
If you’ve ever wondered how someone can lose touch with reality – or what that altered reality might actually feel like to the person living inside it – this is an incredibly compelling perspective.
4. Because I’m Not Myself, You See – Ariane Beeston
The full title really says it all: Because I’m Not Myself, You See: A Memoir of Motherhood, Madness & Coming Back from the Brink.
The author writes about motherhood and severe postpartum mental illness from the perspective of someone who lived through it.
Fiction Exploring Motherhood & Mental Health
These next books are fiction. They’re not resources for understanding postpartum psychosis clinically, but they explore some of the themes that have generated so much conversation throughout this case: motherhood, identity, fear, isolation, perception and women’s mental health.
5. The Push – Ashley Audrain
This may be my top fiction recommendation on the entire list.
The Push explores motherhood, maternal instinct and what happens when a mother believes something is terribly wrong—but the people around her don’t necessarily believe her.
It’s dark. It’s uncomfortable. And it constantly forces you to question what you think you know.
6. The Other Mother – Carol Goodman
A new mother becomes convinced something is wrong with her baby while experiencing disturbing psychological symptoms of her own.
That premise alone probably tells you why it ended up on this list. For readers interested in motherhood, perception and unreliable reality, it’s an obvious pick.
7. The Need – Helen Phillips
This one gets weird – in a good way.
The Need blends literary and speculative fiction while exploring motherhood, fear, identity and the sometimes surreal psychological experience of caring for small children.
It’s less courtroom thriller and more “What exactly is happening inside this mother’s reality?”
8. Nightbitch – Rachel Yoder
Another one for the motherhood gets weird category.
A stay-at-home mother begins believing she’s turning into a dog.
Yes. A dog.
But underneath that bizarre premise is a story about identity, rage, isolation, expectations placed on mothers and what can happen when a woman feels like she’s disappearing into motherhood.
9. A Mouthful of Air – Amy Koppelman
This is a much heavier recommendation.
The novel follows a mother struggling with severe postpartum depression and suicidal thoughts. It’s about maternal mental illness rather than postpartum psychosis specifically, and readers should know going in that the subject matter can be extremely difficult.
10. The Mad Wife – Meagan Church
Historical fiction gives us another perspective: how women’s mental health has been understood—and misunderstood—across generations.
This novel explores marriage, motherhood and the expectations placed upon women at a time when women’s distress could easily be dismissed or pathologized.
11. Truths I Never Told You – Kelly Rimmer
Another historical-fiction selection involving motherhood, family secrets and maternal mental health.
This one isn’t as directly connected to the themes of the Clancy case as some of the memoirs above, but it fits nicely for readers interested in how previous generations of women experienced motherhood and mental illness in a culture where these conversations were rarely happening openly.
12. The Lobotomist’s Wife – Samantha Greene Woodruff
This historical novel takes us into another disturbing chapter of psychiatric history.
Inspired by the era in which lobotomies were promoted as treatments for mental illness, the novel explores medicine, power and what happens when psychiatric treatment itself can cause enormous harm.
Again, not postpartum psychosis – but fascinating if the psychiatric testimony and history of mental-health diagnosis during the trial sent you down a rabbit hole.
Courtroom & Jury Thrillers
Okay.
This section is for those of us who apparently watched so many hours of trial testimony that we’ve decided court is entertainment now.
If you spent jury deliberations wondering what 12 people could POSSIBLY be talking about for that long, start here.
13. The Holdout – Graham Moore
If you’re going to pick ONE courtroom book from this list, I’d probably make it this one.
A controversial murder trial. Twelve jurors. A verdict that not everyone agrees with. And years later, questions remain about what actually happened.
If jury dynamics and reasonable doubt fascinate you, add it to your list immediately.
14. Defending Jacob – William Landay
An assistant district attorney’s teenage son is accused of murder.
Suddenly a prosecutor who has spent his career evaluating evidence and pursuing guilt has to confront those same questions when the accused is his own child.
It’s part courtroom drama, part psychological thriller and part family nightmare.
15. Presumed Innocent – Scott Turow
A prosecutor becomes the suspect in the murder of a colleague.
It’s one of the classics of modern legal thrillers for a reason: evidence, courtroom strategy, reasonable doubt and the uncomfortable realization that what looks obvious at first may not be obvious at all.
16. The Last Trial – Scott Turow
If what you loved most about following a trial was the actual lawyering, put this higher on your list.
Witnesses, evidence, courtroom strategy and the ethical questions surrounding criminal defense all play major roles.
17. A Time to Kill – John Grisham
A courtroom classic that asks readers to wrestle with law, justice, morality and whether those concepts always point toward the same answer.
It’s also a good reminder of why juries aren’t simply being asked, “What do you think happened?”
They’re being asked whether the government proved what the law requires it to prove.
18. The Lincoln Lawyer – Michael Connelly
Defense attorney Mickey Haller conducts much of his business from the back seat of his Lincoln—and finds himself representing a client in a case that becomes far more complicated than it initially appears.
If you enjoyed watching defense strategy unfold during the Lindsay Clancy trial, this scratches that itch.
Psychological Thrillers & Suspense
And finally, for everyone whose request was essentially:
“Forget educating me. Just give me something completely unhinged that I won’t put down.”
I respect it.
19. Woman on the Edge – Samantha M. Bailey
A stranger suddenly hands a woman her baby – and then jumps in front of a train.
That’s basically all I’m telling you because this is exactly the kind of book where knowing too much ruins it.
20. The End of Her – Shari Lapena
A woman’s seemingly settled family life begins unraveling after someone from her husband’s past appears with disturbing allegations.
Marriage, motherhood, secrets and the question of who is telling the truth.
21. Her One Regret – Donna Freitas
Psychological suspense centered around motherhood, disappearance and the secrets underneath a seemingly ordinary life.
This is another good bridge between the maternal themes of the first half of this list and the straight psychological thrillers at the end.
22. All the Dangerous Things – Stacy Willinghamhttps://amzlink.to/az0ozHNtTSRJb
A mother whose young son disappeared hasn’t slept properly in a year and becomes consumed with finding out what happened.
This one is particularly interesting if you’re drawn to stories involving memory, sleep deprivation, motherhood and whether we can always trust our own recollection.
23. The Good Daughter – Karin Slaughter
This one is dark.
Two sisters survived a horrific childhood attack, one later becomes a lawyer, and a new act of violence forces her back into buried trauma.
24. The Quiet Tenant – Clémence Michallon
A psychological thriller told through the women surrounding a man who is hiding something horrific.
This isn’t particularly connected to postpartum mental health or the Clancy case, but if what you’re really looking for is a disturbing psychological read about how someone can appear completely different to the outside world than they actually are, it’s worth adding.
25. We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
Probably one of the most controversial books on this list.
The story is told through a mother’s perspective after her son commits a mass killing, exploring motherhood, guilt, responsibility, nature versus nurture and the endless question of whether a mother should have known something was wrong.
If You Only Read Five…
If you’re asking me where I’d start:
For understanding postpartum psychosis:
From Playgrounds to Psych Wards
For another firsthand PPP perspective:
Inferno
For psychological fiction about motherhood:
The Push
For jury obsession:
The Holdout
For courtroom drama:
Defending Jacob
And, okay I lied. I have to add The Need to this list. It was named Time Magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time for a reason.
If the Lindsay Clancy trial left you wanting to understand more about postpartum psychosis – or just craving another courtroom, jury or psychological thriller – this reading list has you covered. From firsthand maternal mental health memoirs to addictive legal dramas and dark fiction about motherhood, these are the books to add to your TBR.
