For most of her life Deborah has been slipping further and further into a world different from our own, a world richly created by her schizophrenia and existing only in her mind. As her illness becomes more apparent in adolescence, her parents finally recognize the need for treatment, and send her to a rest home to work with a renowned doctor. Over the next three years we witness Deborah's struggle to accept reality and close the door on the world of her illness. Told mostly from Deborah's view point, this is a semi-autobiographical novel, and Greenberg's telling is unsurprisingly expert. She has drawn the world from inside the mind of young Deborah with careful detail and well expressed emotion. Though dark at times, this is a beautiful book that escapes being too dense with an occasional lightness and humor found in its thread of hope and friendship.
Book 33 on my way to 52 in 2011
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