Seduced by Madness

In "Seduced by Madness", Carol Pogash - the leading journalist working the case - has written the definitive account of the Polk family saga, offering a rich and textured recreation of this disturbing and tragic American tale. Examining the decadent culture of California in the 1970s, Pogash looks a [...]
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In "Seduced by Madness", Carol Pogash - the leading journalist working the case - has written the definitive account of the Polk family saga, offering a rich and textured recreation of this disturbing and tragic American tale. Examining the decadent culture of California in the 1970s, Pogash looks at how, in this period of drugs and sexual exploration, a fifteen-year-old Susan found herself caught in the grasp of Felix, her therapist - who like others in the mental health profession, fell for every passing trend in mental health therapy. Culled from years of careful research, Pogash reconstructs the vague beginnings of the couple's sexual relationship in the therapist's office, exploring how Felix's relaxed attitude toward therapy blinded him to the complex nature of Susan's mental state, and how their mutual obsession with each other sealed their fate.With lyrical prose, Pogash skillfully traces the Polks' story - from their early yearnings for her one another through their flawed marriage, which produced three highly intelligent but emotionally divided sons.Weaving a complex narrative of a family that lived in multimillion dollar homes but lingered in the shadow of dysfunction, Pogash reassembles their life in the years and months before Felix's death, intimately describing what led this soft-spoken wife to murder.