I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Select a format:
Retailers:
Summary
The ground-breaking cult classic about a young woman's battle with schizophrenia
With a Foreword by Esmé Weijun Wang and an Afterword by the author
'She fought them with her head and her teeth while the restraints were being tied, trying, doglike, to bite herself'
Sixteen-year-old Deborah's identity is shattering, as she retreats further and further from the 'normal' world into her imaginary kingdom of Yr, a fantastical inner refuge both lush and horrifying. Sent to a psychiatric hospital, she must, with the help of a gifted psychiatrist, try to find a way back. Joanne Greenberg's fictionalized autobiography became a global bestseller on publication in 1964, and remains a wrenching account of mental illness.
'A rare and wonderful insight into the dark kingdom of the mind' Chicago Tribune
'Marvellous ... a courage that is sometimes breathtaking' The New York Times Book Review
With a Foreword by Esmé Weijun Wang and an Afterword by the author
'She fought them with her head and her teeth while the restraints were being tied, trying, doglike, to bite herself'
Sixteen-year-old Deborah's identity is shattering, as she retreats further and further from the 'normal' world into her imaginary kingdom of Yr, a fantastical inner refuge both lush and horrifying. Sent to a psychiatric hospital, she must, with the help of a gifted psychiatrist, try to find a way back. Joanne Greenberg's fictionalized autobiography became a global bestseller on publication in 1964, and remains a wrenching account of mental illness.
'A rare and wonderful insight into the dark kingdom of the mind' Chicago Tribune
'Marvellous ... a courage that is sometimes breathtaking' The New York Times Book Review
Reviews
Marvelous... With a courage that is sometimes breathtaking... (Greenberg) makes a faultless series of discriminations between the justifications for living in an evil and complex reality and the justifications for retreating into the security of madness
New York Times Book Review
