Review of 72-Hour Hold

Svetlana Gelman, of The Knight News at Queens College, reviews 72 Hour Hold, a novel by Bebe Moore Campbell, that “brings the world of a parent living with a mentally ill child right in your face.” Gelman sites the power of the book and writes that “there is a tiny reprieve where the reader is allowed to glimpse Trina, the daughter, who has bipolar disorder, on her meds and peacefully cuddled up with her mother.”

A 72-hour hold refers to the amount of time for which a person can be hospitalized against his or her will in California, where Campbell lives. Campbell has previous discussed how elements of the novel are autobiographical. The novel explores the difficulties for parents attempting to help children with bipolar, and how family history can become clouded by the stigma of mental illness to the detriment of all involved in the process of helping someone recover.