The Tunnel

"A haunting memoir that captures the raw pain of losing a child and the hope that can eventually come after. Our verdict: Get it!"

- Kirkus Reviews, America's most influential book review

"This beautifully written book is a powerful and moving story of a family's struggle with mental illness and the turmoil and love that were involved. It's a necessary book that can help us all to better understand mental illness and how to deal with challenges and grief."

- Walter Isaacson, bestselling biographer of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Elon Musk

"Tripp Friedler's book is an act of courage. He somehow found it in himself to lucidly detail a beloved and promising son's descent into catastrophe. Anyone whose life has been touched in this way will admire The Tunnel and learn from it."

- Jed Horne, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author of Desire Street and Breach of Faith

"A moving and remarkable account of how mental illness impacts the entire family. This is a must read for any family dealing with the mental illness of a loved one."

- Andrew Sperling, former Director of Legislative Advocacy, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The Tunnel is a father’s memoir about a family’s odyssey through the world of serious mental illness. It is a story about the battles Friedler’s son Henry fought with his parents, with various authority figures—including schools, teachers, and the police— and most importantly, the battles Henry fought with his own mind. Henry’s story takes place for the most part in the distinctive air of Uptown New Orleans. He came from a well-educated and prosperous Southern family, the only son between two sisters. The memoir chronicles the way society views, treats, and even criminalizes the mentally ill. It is a love story of a husband and wife as well as a fractured love story of a father and son. But at its heart The Tunnel is a story of the resilience of a family, a man, and a marriage. It is a story of taking that gasp of air at the end of a tunnel—a breath that says you are alive, you made it through your own tunnel of darkness, and you will find happiness on the other side.