A Review for “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”

Joanne Greenberg (writing under the pen-name Hannah Green) writes this novel based on her own experiences as a diagnosed schizophrenic. The novel is immediately valuable for the insight provided into the mind of the protagonist, 16 year old Deborah Blau and her therapist, Dr. Fried (based on the true-to-life Frieda Fromm-Reichmann). The two, collectively and indvidually, encourage the reader to re-define the notion of insanity and to appreciate the profound compassion it demands; equally thought provoking is the insight given into practical psychology and, moreover, the seldom-considered sociological situation within Deborah’s family and in the asylum.
The true beauty of the novel, however, lies in the enticing mystery of Deborah’s private realm, the world of Yr. It is a breath-taking land of many gods, the collect, (including Anterrabae, the fiery falling god and Lactaemon the black god on a black horse), with a language of it’s own, where Imorh means sleep, death or insanity, and where Deborah, bird-one, changes forms at will to fly over mountains and valleys. It is a cruel world, too, where inhabitants greet each other, “Suffer, victim” and the Censor, marking the boundaries between Yr and the real world, toys ruthlessly with Deborah’s senses and perception—this is the prison from which Dr. Fried patiently works to rescue Deborah. In short, this work is a moving, enriching masterpiece that demonstrates the great depths of the human mind and the human heart, guaranteed to touch the reader in a way unique to much of literature. (David Reher)