Jodi Picoult says she hopes her new book will give voice to the women who experience the rare condition of postpartum psychosis, which has been in the spotlight due to the Lindsay Clancy trial.
“I hope the book makes people more aware of what to look for, so that if you see this happening to people you know, you can be the one to step in and help them get help,” Picoult said in an interview with CTV Your Morning on Monday.
Picoult, a best-selling author who is known for doing extensive research for her novels, said she included a character with postpartum psychosis in her 30th book, “Hollow Bones.”
The topics of postpartum psychosis and the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks are timely themes in “Hollow Bones.” However, Picoult said her newest book, which is out this week, isn’t directly related to the Clancy murder case.
Lindsay Clancy and her defence team had said she fatally strangled her three children because of postpartum psychosis. However, the prosecution said she had intended to kill them. The case recently ended in a mistrial.
Picoult said she was doing research for her book when she received an email out of the blue from a woman who was in jail for the strangling death of her three-year-old daughter after giving birth to another child in 2022.
She said the woman, Solange White, said she was hoping she would write about the topic because she wants her “to be a voice for the voiceless.”
According to a recent Marie Claire article, White told the author that her life had been “hijacked by an evil mix of postpartum hormones, insomnia, and the wrong medical treatment.”
The Pennsylvania woman had “pleaded guilty but mentally ill” in August to the third-degree murder of her three-year-old daughter. White was sentenced to 16 to 40 years in a state prison.
Picoult said she spent a year interviewing White, which helped her delve into the theme of postpartum psychosis in her novel.
“And it was literally just to have that sort of fall into my lap when I needed it the most was really incredible,” Picoult said, later adding that “just like Lindsay, same thing where she was hearing voices in her head, she did everything she could to get help.”
“She wasn’t diagnosed properly … it’s a terrible, terrible tragedy.”
With files from WFMZ-TV 69
If you or someone you know is in crisis or struggling with mental illness, here are some resources that are available.
Canada Suicide Crisis Helpline (Call or text 988 or visit 988.ca)
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (1-800-463-2338)
Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868)
If you need immediate assistance call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.
