Broken Ankle Books
ISBN: 0975107518

Under any circumstance the death of a loved one presents a complex and profound emotional burden that is undiminished by the universality of the experience. But the spiritual and emotional toll rises considerably when life’s inevitable conclusion is hastened by suicide. Suicide, and the turmoil left in its wake, provides both fuel and fire for Antonella Gambotto’s The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide (2003, Broken Ankle Books)

Presented in three sections, The Eclipse recounts how suicide has shadowed Gambotto. The book focuses primarily on two suicides: the 1996 overdose death of Michael VerMeulen -- the deeply troubled American editor of British GQ with whom she carried on a tumultuous and often violent affair; and the death in October 2001 of her beloved brother, Gianluca.

While the latter event certainly triggered the brilliant and beautiful emotional deluge captured in this book, it is the cumulative toll of these suicides that drives a narrative that is both haunting and irresistible. Startlingly honest and deeply personal, The Eclipse describes the author’s passage through the emotional rubble left in the aftermath of the self-destruction of people with whom she had the deepest human connection.

Gambotto’s account of her engagement to VerMeulen dominates the first section of the book. Given a cast of characters that includes familiar names from the worlds of journalism, literature, and film, the story has elements one might expect to find in a best-selling novel of the sort that ends up as a Lifetime network movie of the week. But the reader encounters instead the diametric opposite of melodrama, a stark emotional reality expressed through the author’s remarkable literary gifts.

The middle section of the book deals with the suicide of Gianluca Gambotto, a likable man whose intelligence and gift for wry humor masked crippling self-doubt and depression. The circumstances and particulars of Gianluca’s suicide are harrowing in their depiction of the utter sadness from which he sought escape.

But there is far more to The Eclipse than sadness and death. The author’s exploration of the frontiers of grief and near madness give this book its enormous power. As a record of her effort to process the anguish, to triumph over the impenetrable gloom, The Eclipse accomplishes something remarkable. Beneath the terrible weight of the events she describes, Gambotto finds the tiny, waning ember of life and fans it into flame.

The third and final section of the book describes Gambotto’s spiritual and emotional reawakening as she comes to terms with the reality of her brother’s passing. But she strikes no truce with death by suicide. Indeed, reshaped by these wrenching events, Gambotto emerges as a formidable activist, whose utter rejection of conventional treatments for depression -- and of the euthanasia movement -- is likely to add new fuel to an already heated debate. On a less political note, her observations and conclusions on the nature and purpose of grief and on matters of spirituality are relayed in language that reveals a breathtaking blend of intellectual prowess and artistic sensibility. Gambotto's exploration of the issues she confronts is both philosophical and emotional, but steers clear of sappy New Age sentimentality.

While suicide provides the thematic core of The Eclipse, the book, as the title suggests, is about passing through shadow. Antonella Gambotto’s unique ability to describe that passage infuses the book with a vibrancy and life that more than balances the depressing nature of the subject matter. In the end, the book is about embracing life, and all that it entails.

The Eclipse: A Memoir of Suicide is available only by direct online order from the the publisher, Broken Ankle Books.

By Cool Cleveland contributor Bob Rhubart brhubart@yahoo.com

Cleveland Area Suicide Prevention Resources
Cleveland Mobile Crisis Team
1736 Superior Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115
Crisis Phones: (216) 623-6888
24 hrs/7 days

Cleveland Mental Health Services, Inc.
1736 Superior Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44114
Business Phones: (216) 623-6555
Crisis Phones: (216) 623-6888
24 hrs. / 7 days

The Together Hotline
The Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland
Telephone: (216) 721-1115 (8pm to Midnight)

Teens and Suicide: Warning Signs of Suicide
From The Cleveland Clinic Health Information Center

Return To Current Newsletter (:divend:)