This is a non fiction memoir about post Parton psychosis.
This book is compelling and gripping. It almost reads like a fiction novel
It is a distressing read
Huge credit to the author for writing this.

5 stars arent enough for this extraordinary memoir as we descend into the hell of postpartum psychosis. Cho relates her confusion with precision and her terrors with honesty. Ive had some experience of this, trying to understand but not finding the words, but here with Cat you find that madness can make so much sense. She shares her memories of love and fear with tremendous generosity, her mind shattered and infinitely recomposed in search of meaning. The clever structure of the book is at times disorienting but this helps you empathise with her loss. You never lose contact with her strength and spirit. I kept turning the pages, the tension gripping me throughout. I will be recommending this book to everyone!

Cho, a Korean American literary agent based in London, experienced stress-induced postpartum psychosis after the birth of her son, Cato. She and her husband James had gone back to the USA when Cato was two months old to introduce him to friends and family, ending with a big Korean 100-day celebration for him at her in-laws’ home in New Jersey. Almost as soon as they got to her in-laws’, though, she started acting strangely: she was convinced there were cameras watching their every move, and Cato’s eyes were replaced with “devil’s eyes.” She insisted they leave for a hotel, but soon she would be in an emergency room, followed by a mental health ward.

Cho alternates between her time on the New Bridge ward – writing in a notebook, trying to act normal whenever James visited, expressing milk from painfully swollen breasts, and interacting with her fellow patients with all their quirks – and a rundown of the rest of her life before the breakdown. Her Kentucky childhood was marked by her mathematician father’s detachment and the sense that she and her brother were together “in the trenches,” pitted against the world. In her twenties she worked in a New York City corporate law firm and got caught up in an abusive relationship with a man she moved to Hong Kong to be with. All along she weaves in her family’s history and Korean sayings and legends that explain their values.

Twelve days. That was the length of her hospitalization in early 2018, but Cho so painstakingly depicts her mindset that readers are fully immersed in an open-ended purgatory – a terrifying time when she questioned her sanity and whether she was cut out for motherhood. “Koreans believe that happiness can only tempt the fates and that any happiness must be bought with sorrow,” she writes. She captures both extremes, of suffering and joy, in this vivid account.

I have just finished an incredible biography by Catherine Cho. It is about her experience of postpartum psychosis, which affected her almost 100 days after she had given birth. Her Korean heritage offers a tradition where mother's keep their babies inside for the first 100 days to keep them safe from evil, but Catherine isn't superstitious and so plans a trip with her husband and child which will end with a 100 day celebration party. However, not all goes to plan as Catherine becomes increasingly stressed and begins to lose control.

I understand the risks of birth on a woman’s mental health, but I really had never heard of it triggering psychosis to the extent written in Cho’s book. Fortunately I don’t know anyone who has suffered from this condition, but apparently it can affect 1-2 in 1000 women, so it’s more common than you might think.

Reading her account was almost like being drawn into a good piece of fiction. As she recounts her anxiety and delusions, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember this was real for her. I can’t even begin to imagine how terrifying it was to disconnect so much from reality, and how frightened her family must have been for her. She switched between thinking she was a child, an old woman, and herself. She believed her family were trapped in purgatory and she saw demons everywhere.

I’ve had anxiety-induced impulsive images before (which were unsettling before I learnt what was happening), so I could relate to that feeling of ‘losing your mind’ and of control becoming a confused concept. My Aunt has also worked with Dementia patients who suffer from hallucinations, and some of her stories always stuck with me, particularly the one of a man who would see aircraft hovering outside his window all the time, and another man who was followed around by an elderly woman. I love reading books about psychology and mental health, and so this book was such an indulgence. Though Cho’s suffering was uncomfortable, I am grateful for an insight into her experiences, which has definitely raised my awareness of postpartum conditions.

I have a lot of admiration for Cho’s brave decision to share her story with the world. Not everyone will understand, but for others I think it shows the very real risks of childbirth on a woman’s mind and body, and the absolutely essential need for stable and funded mental health services. Though Cho lives in England, her episode happened on holiday in America, so that added pressure of those frightening medical bills must have been an awful strain on the family. I’m so relieved for the NHS; the idea that receiving help for an uncontrollable lapse of mental health could see a family in debt is something I can barely fathom (yet is the reality for so many people).

This incredible read brought about some brilliant discussion points, it was educational, and it was honestly just a wonderfully written biography.

An amazing book, that tackles the taboo topic of post prem psychosis . It is done in such a way that it’s tasteful yet raw. Loud but also silent.
I urge you to read this book as it is quite simply amazing

As I'm not, and never will be, a mother there were obviously elements of this book I will never relate to directly but the way Cho wrote about her descent into psychosis was gripping. I also really enjoyed the insights into Korean life and the impact of the Korean War plus also the trials of being a 2nd generation immigrant.

"Koreans say that in the moment between sleep and waking, if you wake, paralysed and unable to breathe or shout, a ghost is sitting on your chest."

This is where we find Catherine Cho: weighed down by generations of cultural expectation and nightmarish flashbacks to a previous relationship; 3 months after the birth of her much-wanted son, Cato; incapacitated by post-partum psychosis and hospitalised.

Cho's memoir recounts her fortnight on the ward artfully interweaving stories from her past.

Honest and unflinching, Cho neither seeks to blame nor catastrophise; she does not pity herself or seek sympathy from others. Instead, she offers the reader a visceral, often frightening, insight into a temporarily fractured mind where she barely recognises herself and agonisingly struggles to communicate her trauma with those who love her the most.

I count my blessings that psychosis was not among the ailments I suffered when birthing/ raising my children but Cho speaks many truths that will resonate with all new mothers:

'You must surrender!' James' mother would say frequently, throwing her hands up in the air. 'That's the only way to survive being a mother!' And I'd known it was kindly meant, but each time it's felt like a pressing of hands against me, a suffocation. Surrender. I was meant to be a sacrifice."

Forgetting, of course, that one does not recognise oneself when looking at your deflated body and milk-laden breasts in the mirror, we most certainly do not yet know ourselves as mothers. And so here there are also heedful warnings for onlookers and visitors: when we address the babe-in-arms before the proud (and probably exhausted) woman cradling them or dispense with names in favour of nicknames like Mummy or Mom, or ask after the child and forget to sooth the parent, we are feeding the beast;

"My life was no longer my own. I was as though I'd transformed without knowing it, and without any warning that I would be."

Cho's light and simple use of language takes us straight to the heart of her tale without dressing it up in imagery and figurative language: the visions of her splintered mind need no embellishment. However, at times, there felt to be an over-reliance on the repeated image of her son's sleeping face to relate more peaceful moments- "his cheek pressed against my chest" or "against the white sheets" or "against my father's chest". On reflection, with only 3 months in her infant's company so far, there's a chance it was only on these occasions that she felt equilibrium: that is certainly an experience I HAVE shared.

My thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher for sharing an advanced copy with me in return for my honest opinion.

3.5 rounded up

Inferno tells Cho's story of her postpartum psychosis which came on three months after the birth of her son during a trip back home to the U.S.. Her memories from her time in hospital are interspersed with her life up until the birth of her child, and they make for a riveting and moving read.

Inferno is the memoir of a young Korean-American woman’s battle with pre and post-partum psychosis. It’s not something I knew very much about before but I am constantly trying to educate myself on mental health conditions -particularly those that aren’t often talked about. Inferno definitely ticked all of those boxes for me and I’m so glad I read it.

It’s an incredibly intense, detailed and moving account that reflects not only Catherine’s psychosis but also on motherhood, retaining a sense of self and understanding how that self fits into society. Hugely informative and beautifully written, I struggled to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to have a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Catherine Cho works as a literary agent in London. She’s married to James, & has a young son, Cato. On the surface, all looks ordinary. A productive, happy life, with the ups & downs, mundane details & small delights of everyday life.

Yet soon after giving birth, Cho became seriously ill with postpartum psychosis. ‘Inferno’, published on March 19th, is a searing account of the time before, during & after her breakdown, including her time in a psychiatric institution. Similarly to the timelessness of psychosis itself, Cho describes her experience through disjointed passages jumping between times & between sanity & madness.

Her psychosis was triggered by a combination of things: the exhaustion of early motherhood; overdoing it by travel across the US with the baby; & previous traumatic experiences described in the book, all coming together in a mysterious knot of genetics & experience. The terror, chaos & internal logic of psychosis come to life through Cho’s writing:

“I went to feed Cato, holding him close, but noticed that my hands were clutching him tightly. Would I suffocate him? His eyes darted, looking at me with fear. And then it happened. His eyes were devils’ eyes: dark eyes with flashing red pupils. “James,” I gasped. He came into the room, and I saw his eyes widen when he saw my face. I told him that we needed to leave the house. Now. He paused. “OK,” he said. “OK, let’s leave.”

This is a beautifully written account of a terrifying experience & a moving description of Cho’s journey back to her family & life.

A brutally honest account of Catherine Cho’s post-natal psychosis and depression and how she ends up in an American psychiatric unit.
The book starts with Cho - a Korean woman who lives in London - visiting the US with her husband and new baby. We first meet her on a psychiatric ward.
The parts of the book in hospital never quite felt as gripping as the latter section on the lead-up to Cho’s incarceration, but you do feel the dislocation of ending up among strangers, as if you were in a boarding school or a prison.
Ultimately it is love that pulls her back from the depths of madness and allows her to be a mother again.
I’ve never read such a graphic and painful account of the terror of being pursued by demons and the paranoia that makes you believe that even your own tiny baby is the devil.
I would recommend this powerful account - not only as a work about mental illness but as a tribute to the redemptive power of love and healing.

Inferno is a hard-hitting, intense and heartbreaking book documenting Cho’s experience of postpartum psychosis; a rarely discussed topic that is urgently addressed here. It's the first book of it's kind on this seemingly neglected and taboo subject. The first time I actually heard of PP was thanks to British soap Eastenders when Stacey Slater was hospitalised with it. Her storyline was based on real patient Eve Cameron's experience with the disorder. It powerfully and realistically portrayed a condition 1 in 1000 women will struggle with post-natally. Despite it being several years ago I still vividly remember the scenes and wouldn't wish that terrible experience on anyone. I also wonder why many doctors don't ensure that their patients know about this before giving birth. I hope Inferno can ignite a spark of debate about this very real and incredibly scary condition and give it the attention it deserves. A superbly written, fascinating and deeply moving read. Many thanks to Bloomsbury Circus for an ARC.

My twelfth read of the year.

Inferno: A memoir by Catherine Cho.

My rating: ⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐stars (out of 5)


The book blurb states:

When Catherine left London for the US with her husband James, to introduce her family to their newborn son Cato, she could not have envisaged how that trip would end. Catherine would find herself in an involuntary psych ward in New Jersey, separated from her husband and child, unable to understand who she was, and how she had got there.

The memoir starts with Catherine in the psych ward, as she starts to piece together memories. Catherine delves back into her childhood, adolescence and earlier adulthood, telling the story of her life before she meets her husband James.

I found the pace of these initial sections to be ponderous, although not in a bad way. By the end it's clear how they all link together to paint a picture of how someone's experiences can be exacerbated by stress, but can also help them remember who they are.

I was really impressed with Inferno. Particularly how Catherine details the build up to her psychosis: a series of stressors that could affect anyone, and how she finds her way back to herself afterwards. I have met Catherine (only briefly) and she seemed to me to be such a calm person, I couldn't imagine her suffering from psychosis. I think that the power in this memoir is how ordinary (and I don't mean this as a negative at all) and relatable a lot of Catherine's actions are. Mental illness can affect anyone.

Another thing that really stayed with me was about how much support Catherine had around her once she was suffering from the psychosis, particularly from her partner, James. I'm so glad she had someone fighting for her.

Inferno will be published on March 19th 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Inferno is a fascinating insight into the mind of someone suffering from postpartum psychosis. I’ve heard of the condition but I find it doesn’t seem to garner much attention so it’s great to see this memoir.

I loved reading about the author’s Korean background and all the different traditions around becoming a parent.

I appreciated the author’s honesty and bravery in telling her story. I hope this book breaks down the stigma around a woman’s mental health during and after pregnancy. It’s brilliantly written and an important book that everyone should read in years to come.

I don’t read a lot of memoirs but this one really caught my attention. It took me on an emotional and heartbreaking journey. It’s a subject that I knew very little about, pregnancy psychosis, but it’s really opened my eyes to just how fragile our human mind is and just how easily we can break.

Catherine didn’t have a particularly happy childhood, her father was very strict and liked order and peace and quiet. It was a far cry from her husband’s family where noise was everywhere.

She has a troubled relationship with her previous partner, Lex, which got to the stage where she had to leave and when she met James she wasn’t looking for love, but a long distance relationship followed by a swift wedding made her life complete. Bringing her baby Cato into the world should have made them complete but instead it tore her apart.

I was fascinated by the cultures of the Korean new born baby rituals, The fact that a mother should stay indoors with the newborn for a period of 100 days. A far cry from mother’s in Britain that have to be up and going from word go. Catherine went against this and travelled from her home in London across to the states to visit both sets of grandparents and that is when her life spiraled out of control.

I never actually knew that there was such a thing as postpartum psychosis and I have to admit I was both intrigued and slightly horrified that this could happen. The way that the American’s dealt with the treatment compared to the British again left me pondering which way is best? To be torn from your baby must be horrific but as Catherine tells her story she was in no fit state to be left with a baby...

This book to me was a learning curve and I thoroughly engaged with the book and it has taken me a few days to write my review as I have been running things through my mind. Ultimately this is a story of love. Without love and understanding Catherine would not have got through the horror and it’s heartwarming to know that there is goodness in the world.

I admire this brave author for sharing her difficult story and I hope that she now goes from strength to strength.

Many thanks for my ARC. I will be posting to my blog nearer publication date,

Wow. Catherine's writing is stunning, beautifully paced and captivating. I raced through this and found so much of it fascinating - the politics within the psychiatric hospital, the weaving of Korean mythology, the exploration of how her psychosis manifested.

Inferno by Catherine Cho is a memoir recounting the author's experience of postpartum psychosis and her recovery.

Compelling memoir of post-partum psychosis

While on an extended trip across America to introduce her new son to her family and in-laws, Catherine Cho suffers a complete psychotic breakdown. Her husband resorts to admitting her to a psychiatric hospital, where she must rebuild her identity.

Cho writes with fluidity, linking her ideas so smoothly that the fear and confusion of a splintered mind are rendered vivid. Woven into the account of her psychosis is her past, her Korean culture and the domestic abuse she suffered at the hands of a former partner.

This memoir must surely serve to enhance understanding – and break down the stigma – of mental ill health.

At times harrowing, this is nonetheless a beautiful and important book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC.