Deep, everlasting love, grief and the mysteries of mental illness are undercurrents that propel The Perfect Other, a chilling, moving memoir by Kyleigh Leddy. A graduate of Boston College now in pursuit of her master's in social work, Leddy grapples with the life and loss of her older sister, Kait, a young woman affected by schizophrenia.
"I am the kind of person who reads the last page first. The type of girl who searches the plot summary on Wikipedia before the movie ends," writes Leddy, who has spent a large part of her young life grappling with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of her 22-year-old sister, Kait. She was last seen on a frigid January night in 2014. Security cameras show that her older sister took a taxi to the foot of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, Pa., ascended to the highest point and then disappeared. It is believed she jumped; however, her body was never recovered. Thus, her whereabouts remains a mystery--one that haunts Leddy and sets her on a course to make sense of the shocking tragedy, both personally and through a more psychologically clinical lens.
Through a sensitively drawn, stream-of-conscious narrative--spurred by a "Modern Love" column Leddy published in the New York Times--she stitches together remembered fragments and pivotal scenes from the life she, her mother and father shared with Kait. From childhood, all Kait wanted was a baby sister. And she got one, when she was five years old--when Kyleigh Leddy was born. The author, reserved and introspective, looked up to and worshipped Kait, who was confident and charming, beautiful and fun-loving. After sustaining a head injury, Kait started to exhibit concerning erratic behaviors that took inexplicable, unruly--often violent--turns when she reached "the bluff of early adulthood."
Leddy, understandably, struggles with her sister's exacerbating behaviors and the shock of her ultimately vanishing from life: "to be grieving and watch the world continue on is the cruelest outrage." However, her feelings of loneliness and horror wind up serving a much greater purpose that ultimately enlarges her sister's life--and her own. 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. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines
Shelf Talker: A hauntingly reflective memoir details the intricacies of mental illness and the bonds of sisterly love and loyalty in this life--and beyond.