Overview

"""Shines a light on the stigma surrounding mental health and schizophrenia. This deeply personal memoir will give readers greater empathy and understanding in supporting those who are oftentimes misunderstood."" --Sheryl Sandberg As a child, all Kait Leddy had ever wanted was a little sister. When Kyleigh was born, she and Kait were inseparable; Kait would protect her, include her, cuddle, and comfort her. To Kyleigh, her big sister was her whole world. But as Kait entered adolescence, her personality changed. She began lashing out emotionally and physically and sometimes lost touch with reality, behavior that worsened after a traumatic head injury. The family struggled to keep this terrifying, often violent, side of Kait private--at school and in her social life, she was still the gorgeous, effervescent life of the party. Powerless to help, Kyleigh watched in horror as her perfect sibling's world began to collapse and Kait was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Then, in January 2014, twenty-two-year-old Kait disappeared. Though her body was never found, security footage showed her walking to the peak of Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Bridge, where it is presumed that she jumped. In this extraordinary memoir-- a story of hope, grief, mental illness, and enduring love--a grieving Kyleigh reflects on her sister and their life together, honoring their bond and searching for answers and a way to find meaning in this devastating loss."

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9780358469346

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Reviews

The Perfect Other is a stunning mosaic--an impassioned and poetic examination into the impossible why? of mental illness. The book, like its subject, is achingly alive: a harrowing but life-affirming odyssey of what it takes to care for someone who is slipping away. Ultimately this is a paean to sisterhood and the excruciating joy of loving someone 'other.' -- Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender Too often, people living with mental illness and their loved ones suffer in silence. Sharing heartfelt memories and scientific research, Kyleigh Leddy breaks that silence to shine a light on the stigma surrounding mental health and schizophrenia. This deeply personal memoir will give readers greater empathy and understanding in supporting those who are oftentimes misunderstood. -Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of Lean In and Option B The Perfect Other reminds us all of the power of our only cradle-to-grave relationships--our siblings--as well as the powerlessness we feel when our brothers or sisters are not well. The book is a triumph--a testament to the healing power of telling the stories of those we love. ---Meg Jay, PhD, author of Supernormal: The Secret World of the Family Hero

The Perfect Other is a stunning mosaic--an impassioned and poetic examination into the impossible why? of mental illness. The book, like its subject, is achingly alive: a harrowing but life-affirming odyssey of what it takes to care for someone who is slipping away. Ultimately this is a paean to sisterhood and the excruciating joy of loving someone 'other.' -- Susannah Cahalan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire and The Great Pretender Too often, people living with mental illness and their loved ones suffer in silence. Sharing heartfelt memories and scientific research, Kyleigh Leddy breaks that silence to shine a light on the stigma surrounding mental health and schizophrenia. This deeply personal memoir will give readers greater empathy and understanding in supporting those who are oftentimes misunderstood. -Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of Lean In and Option B The Perfect Other reminds us all of the power of our only cradle-to-grave relationships--our siblings--as well as the powerlessness we feel when our brothers or sisters are not well. The book is a triumph--a testament to the healing power of telling the stories of those we love. ---Meg Jay, PhD, author of Supernormal: The Secret World of the Family Hero --No Source

One of PopSugar's Best New Books of 2022 -- No Source Leddy seeks courageously to break the stigma and silence that still surround schizophrenia and similar disorders while paying tribute to the woman whose life so profoundly transformed her own. A moving and deeply felt memoir about family and mental illness. -- Kirkus Reviews Exceptionally thoughtful and insightful. -- Booklist Online Deep, everlasting love, grief and the mysteries of mental illness are undercurrents that propel The Perfect Other, a chilling, moving memoir by Kyleigh Leddy. Leddy's raw search for understanding, meaning and peace grants readers a rare personal glimpse into the universal mysteries of mental illness and the long-lasting traumatic effects it has on those afflicted, as well as those in its orbit. A hauntingly reflective memoir details the intricacies of mental illness and the bonds of sisterly love and loyalty in this life--and beyond. -- Shelf Awareness Heartrending... Leddy offers a humanist portrait of the nuances of loving someone with mental illness... Gutting in its intensity... but well worth the effort. -- Publishers Weekly The Perfect Other by Kyleigh Leddy is an emotional memoir about the bond between sisters, and breaking the stigma surrounding discussions of mental health. -- Popsugar

Author Information

KYLEIGH LEDDY is a graduate of Boston College and is currently pursuing an MSW at Columbia University in advanced clinical practice and public policy. In 2019, she won the New York Times Modern Love college essay contest. Her work has appeared in the New York Times and Parents, as well as other publications. She is based in New York City.

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