Mayhem

A Memoir

By: Sigrid Rausing

Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

A searingly powerful memoir about the impact of addiction on a family.

In the summer of 2012, a woman named Eva was found dead in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans K. Rausing. The couple had struggled with drug addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines. Now, writing with singular clarity and restraint, Hans' sister, the editor and publisher Sigrid Rausing, tries to make sense of what happened.

In Mayhem, she asks the difficult questions those close to the world of addiction must face. "Who can help the addict, consumed by a shaming hunger, a need beyond control? There is no medicine: the drugs are the medicine. And who can help their families, so implicated in the self-destruction of the addict? Who can help when the very notion of 'help' becomes synonymous with an exercise of power; a familial police state; an end to freedom, in the addict's mind?"

An eloquent and timely attempt to understand the conundrum of addiction - and a memoir as devastating as it is riveting.

©2017 Sigrid Rausing (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A profoundly articulate and harrowing memoir of a family grappling with addiction. With love and tenderness, respect and reserve, Sigrid Rausing explores the evolution of her brother and sister-in-law's addiction and its effect on her entire family. Her deftly layered observations about how one can be both knowing and not knowing capture a parent's innate sense of a child's being in danger; one sibling's desperate attempts to save another; and a deeply private family who find themselves suddenly exposed. Ultimately, what Rausing finds is a way to tell her own story, including among objects from the past that remind her of what once was, or might have been. I was impressed and moved." (A. M. Homes)

"In this mesmerizing account of her brother's descent into addiction and her sister-in-law's untimely death, Sigrid Rausing explores sweeping questions about what it means to choose or refuse a moral life; what tragedy looks like when it is woven into privilege; and how we control or surrender to our perceived destinies. Written in elegiac, lyrical prose, Mayhem is deeply passionate in its impossible attempt to adduce a redeeming vitality from an agonizing chaos. This is a brave, elegant, inspired book." (Andrew Solomon)

Her voice, this subject

Maggie’s intelligent, deep-voiced narration is perfect for this memoir, which is by turns as serious as a heart attack yet lush with details of childhood play and happiness. Neither wealth nor such privileged upbringing are any match for the ruinous affects of addiction. Recovery is fragile.

Beautifully Written Book

This was a very easy and interesting book to listen to. Beautifully written.

As the sibling of an addict, I empathized with Sigrid and her family. If I were a child of Hans and Eva, I would be grateful for the understanding, care and mercy given to their parents hopefully on behalf of them. This is perhaps the most loving way for her to preserve what's positive for the children.

It seems to me that Sigrid should not have any guilt. She mentions feeling guilty several times. Addicts must take responsibility for their actions.

It helps me see others around me, on drugs and say, "I understand a little better why you..."

Thank you for sharing this story.

Unique story but not unique

Addiction has touched so many lives; the story is familiar and yet unique.

Maggie Gyllenhaal's voice is perfect for this type of story, as well.

Maggie Gyllenhaal saved the day

I think this book would be very boring if I had to read it or if it was read by anyone else. Sigrid should give Maggie every dime of profit. I respect Sigrid for writing it. “If you don’t tell your story then someone else will.” But I think if I was more familiar with the family and the story I’d be very disappointed. It was not personal at all. Stories with this type of raw emotion to pull from tend to leave the reader with great empathy toward the writer at least that’s usually the goal or in part at least. I think I carry a great deal of easily accessible empathy and I’m not sure that Sigrid even touched the surface of it. Black and white. Cut and dry. This is what happened. Take it or leave it. We tried. We don’t know where we went wrong. We don’t even know or think we did go wrong. The end.