Seduced by Madness

In October 2002, the quiet northern California town of Orinda was rocked when Susan Polk, the mother of three teenage boys, was arrested for stabbing her husband and former therapist, Dr. Felix Polk, to death. Here, journalist Pogash reconstructs the case. Examining the decadent culture of California in the 1970s, Pogash looks at how, in this period of drugs and sexual exploration, a teen found herself caught in the grasp of a therapist who, like many others, fell for every passing trend in mental health therapy. Pogash reconstructs the vague beginnings of the couple's sexual relationship in the therapist's office, exploring how Felix's relaxed attitude toward therapy blinded him to the complex nature of Susan's mental state, and how their mutual obsession with each other sealed their fate. Pogash also provides a first-hand account of the media-circus murder trial in which Susan defended herself.--From publisher description.