“In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she’d never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and send to McLean Hospital to be treated for depression. She spent most of the next two years on the ward for teenage girls in the psychiatric hospital renowned for its famous clientele – Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, Anne Sexton and Ray Charles.”
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Content Warning: graphic mental illness, suicide, suicidal thoughts, moderate eating disorder, self harm, forced institutionalization, minor adult/minor relationship
23 Books In 2023 – Book 2 of 23
Girl, Interruped is a book that I have been quite interested in reading since I watched the film for the first time a long time ago, but after finally reading, I can’t say I’m a huge fan. I did enjoy the film, but I can’t really see how this book translated to what we see on screen.
This book follows 18 year old Susanna, who living on a ward while being treated for depression and borderline personality disorder, and where she lived for two years of the beginning of her adult life. When there, she encounters a lot of different women living at the ward, all of whom are being treated for numerous different mental illnesses and such, from a burn victim, to a self proclaimed sociopath.
A reason I think I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would is because I knew it was non-fiction, and my brain must be wired to not like it when I know what it is. I think I would have liked this more had I not known it was non-fiction; it could work well as fiction.
For someone who lived on a ward for 2 years, you’d think there would be more stories to tell, and while I do favour shorter books, this one felt far too short for the subject matter.
While I did want to venture into non-fiction sometime soon, I think this is enough to dissuade me from doing so, unfortunately.
All the love,
Jade x
Tea Stains and Book Spines 