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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten
4.0
‘To her there is only one Max’
Danielle Parkman is a single mother who has combined a successful career as an attorney with parenting her teenage son Max, who has Asperger’s syndrome. As the story opens, Danielle’s parenting skills are being tested by Max’s violent outbursts and she is concerned for his emotional wellbeing because of his expression of suicidal thoughts and drug use. Danielle takes Max to a psychiatric hospital for assessment in the hope of finding treatment which will help to manage his volatile behaviour. The assessment leads to a recommendation is that Max requires in-patient treatment for more specialized psychiatric assistance and he is admitted to the Maitland Psychiatric Unit.
Thus begins a nightmare for Max and Danielle.
Max is found bloody and unconscious next to the bed of a murdered patient: a boy named Jonas. The circumstances mean that Max is the prime suspect, and Danielle herself becomes implicated in the crime. Danielle’s fight to clear Max leads to an investigation involving a number of interesting characters and events as Danielle seeks to uncover the truth.
I enjoyed this novel although I found parts of it disturbing. On one level, this is suspenseful fiction. On another level, it raises a number of ‘What if?’ questions about medical diagnosis and treatment. The characters, particularly Danielle and Max, are finely realised.
‘To have a child who has friends, goes to school, has a future – these are the dreams of a race of people to whom she and this woman no longer belong.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Danielle Parkman is a single mother who has combined a successful career as an attorney with parenting her teenage son Max, who has Asperger’s syndrome. As the story opens, Danielle’s parenting skills are being tested by Max’s violent outbursts and she is concerned for his emotional wellbeing because of his expression of suicidal thoughts and drug use. Danielle takes Max to a psychiatric hospital for assessment in the hope of finding treatment which will help to manage his volatile behaviour. The assessment leads to a recommendation is that Max requires in-patient treatment for more specialized psychiatric assistance and he is admitted to the Maitland Psychiatric Unit.
Thus begins a nightmare for Max and Danielle.
Max is found bloody and unconscious next to the bed of a murdered patient: a boy named Jonas. The circumstances mean that Max is the prime suspect, and Danielle herself becomes implicated in the crime. Danielle’s fight to clear Max leads to an investigation involving a number of interesting characters and events as Danielle seeks to uncover the truth.
I enjoyed this novel although I found parts of it disturbing. On one level, this is suspenseful fiction. On another level, it raises a number of ‘What if?’ questions about medical diagnosis and treatment. The characters, particularly Danielle and Max, are finely realised.
‘To have a child who has friends, goes to school, has a future – these are the dreams of a race of people to whom she and this woman no longer belong.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith