Girl, Interrupted: A Memoir

In 1967, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was admitted to McLean Hospital after seeing a psychiatrist for the first time. Her memoir recounts the following two years of her stay. McLean's ward for teenage girls was known both for its notable former patients—including Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, and Ray Charles—and for its progressive treatment approaches available to those who could afford it. Kaysen's account presents vivid portraits of her fellow patients and staff while exploring both the difficult realities and sharp observations of her experience. Set against the backdrop of the late 1960s, the memoir examines what it means to be labeled sane or insane, and explores questions of mental illness and recovery.