A Child of Air

Susan Coleman appeared to be the woman who had everything, at least on the surface. When she commits suicide in her Florida home, her personal demons are revealed for the first time. She was an expert at hiding these demons and leaves behind a group of stunned and bewildered relatives who had no idea that shead had such a troubled childhood. Her younger sister, Katy, is especially devastated upon reading Susanas childhood journals and feels as if the two of them had been raised on different planets. Katy is left to cope with her feelings regarding Susanas death, alternating between anger, guilt, and profound grief. Why didnat I know? Why didnat she ever tell me these things once we were adults? Did she think that I wouldnat understand? She finds solace in the words from a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. Susan had recited this poem to her a long time ago when they were two young girls, swinging under the old apple tree on a perfect day in the month of May.