Mayhem

In the summer of 2012 American-born Eva Rausing was found dead of a drug overdose in the London townhouse she shared with her husband, Hans Kristian Rausing. The couple had struggled with addiction for years, often under the glare of tabloid headlines.
     Now, writing with singular clarity and restraint, Hans's sister Sigrid Rausing, a highly regarded publisher, editor, and writer, attempts to make sense of what happened. With compassion and eloquence she traces Hans's and Eva's addiction, their increasing isolation and paranoia, and the shattering events that preceded Eva's sudden, tragic death.
     But this book goes beyond the story of two people, or even of a single family: it also pulls the lens back to investigate the nature of addiction generally. Rausing draws upon her background as an anthropologist, referencing a variety of sources from classic psychological studies to provocative works of art.
     Mayhem is a memoir about witnessing addiction, and how the very notion of "help" can become synonymous with an exercise of power and an end to freedom in the addict's mind. It is about how to write about a family that is both public and intensely private, and about how writing itself can feel like an act of betrayal.
     A memoir that is as riveting and poignant as it is necessary.