The End of Normal by Stephanie Madoff Mack

Riveting. That is what this book is. Sad, tragic and riveting. "The End of Normal" by Stephanie Madoff Mack is the memoir of a young widow who is left behind with two very young children following the suicide of her 46-year-old husband. That is plot, but the backstory is that her husband was the older son of Bernie Madoff, a financial criminal and mastermind behind the infamous $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Although Mark and his brother Andy worked with their father, they were never charged with any crimes related to their father's legal case. To the contrary, they were the ones who turned their father into the police. However, Bernie's years of illegal activity would cast shame on the entire family, including Mark's second wife Stephanie, hammered by many lawsuits from angry former clients. I found this book so compelling because it was not written by a reporter, but rather by an insider who was not afraid to talk about the inner workings of this dysfunctional family. We see Ruth Madoff mailing away her secret jewelry to family members. We see Mark's first wife Susan and his brother Andy bickering with her. And finally, we see her husband Mark struggling with mental health issues from the moment of his father's arrest. Despite efforts by the family to save Mark, he saw suicide as the only way out. He thought his young family would be better off without him, but they were not. Stephanie's memoir is honest, raw, and well-written. She admits she wrote the book to share her story, but also to try to make sense of this story for herself and her children. Anyone who has ever lost a friend or family member to suicide will feel her pain and also feel her frustration being related to this notorious Madoff family. To buy this book on Amazon click here.