Anonymity: The Secret Life of an American Family Book

Don Heche died of AIDS in 1983 at the age of forty-five, one of the earliest casualties of the disease. But he was not the only victim of his illness: he left behind a wife and four children. How her family dealt with their predicament - not only the loss of husband and father but the overwhelming knowledge of his secret homosexual life - is the subject of Susan Bergman's powerful memoir. Bergman's narration weaves back and forth through time as she juxtaposes childhood recollections with meditations on the breaking up of the Heche family and the lasting effects on those who survived. She reexamines the family's images of themselves in the light of their new awareness, looking for the telltale fault lines in what had seemed an all-American story. She seeks out her father's friends and companions in his other life, including those who cared for him in his last days. In the process, she comes to a new understanding of her father, her family, and herself, which has profound influence on the way she chooses to live her own life. Susan Bergman writes with frankness, conviction, and impressive narrative art. Anonymity is a heartrending, memorable revelation of the hard truths and healing lessons of one family's extraordinary experience.

Bergman's father, Don Heche, died of AIDS in 1983 at the age of 45, one of the earliest casualties of AIDS. How the Heche family dealt with their predicament--the loss of husband and father and the shocking knowledge of Don's secret homosexual life--is the subject of Bergman's distinguished memoir.