Enjoyed this book having read very many similar books this one kept me interested through out. This is a good read in this genre of book. Enjoy

"I wrote this novel, which is a fictionalized autobiography, to give a picture of what being schizophrenic feels like and what can be accomplished with a trusting relationship between a gifted therapist and a willing patient. It is not a case history or study. I like to think it is a hymn to reality." —Joanne Greenberg

This hymn to reality was brutal and lyrical. The memories of many of my friends and family fluttered by, and I so appreciate the author's courage to put it all down for us to read.

I read the synopsis of this book and when I noticed that the lead character was a female and it centered around a mental illness she was going through, I had to pick it up to read. I have been interested in psychology and the inner workings of the mind throughout my life, so I was curious to read it and get a better perspective of schizophrenia. The book did not disappoint and had me in fear for Deborah and what she was put through in the mental institution. I liked the story overall and found it interesting, but there were pieces of the story that I felt could have been more thorough.

This book wasn’t for me – I can see that it might be enjoyable but I couldn’t get past the writing style and the old psychology methods on show.

This is a period book now so I appreciate that sometimes you do have to accept things for what they are – when this was written some of the elements would have been widely accepted. But reading it now, I was thrown out of the story all the time. I didn’t really like any of the characters either.

That’s not to say that there’s not reasons why people would and should read this book – there are and I’m sure a lot of people really enjoy it. It’s just not for me.

This story of 16-year-old Deborah Blau and her mental health problems is based on the author's own experiences. Published in 1964 and semi-autobiographical, it looks back to the 1940s when Joanne Greenberg herself spent time in a private mental hospital. I found the book engaging – up to a point – and compelling and it would be ridiculous of me - someone who has thankfully never suffered from mental health issues – to comment on the authenticity or veracity of Deborah’s suffering, so all I’ll say is that it largely felt true-to-life and gave me at least a glimpse into an alien world, and hopefully also a better understanding. I found Deborah’s fantasy world hard to relate to, and those passages added little to the narrative for me, although I accept how integral they were to Deborah’s state of mind. I began to understand how such a fantasy world can be more real to the patient than the actual world. I did relate to Deborah's parents and sister and their troubled and sometimes ambivalent feelings toward Deborah, and would have liked more about that aspect of the novel. However, these caveats aside, I did enjoy the book and was left with much to reflect on.

“I never promised you a rose garden” is such a beautiful title, I romanticised this book before I read it and knew what it was about. The book follows a young-ish girl with schizophrenia being admitted into a mental hospital. Joanne Greenberg really shows and explains what schizophrenia is through a very smart way, this book is semi- autobiographical which helped make the story come to life. It also shows that things must get worse before they can get better.

The narration of this story is told in the third person, it is very scattered (this could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste). Personally I enjoyed the scattered narration but it might of made more sense if it was in the first person because she is schizophrenic and her mind is scattered.

I gave this book 3 stars, I think this will be a very memorable book. If you enjoyed Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar”, you will love this book. This book was recently re-published and is available to buy now!

Wow, what an eye opener to schizophrenia this book was, I always love a "classic story" so knew I would enjoy this. I learnt a lot that I didn't know about schizophrenia as well, it was a lesson as well as an enjoyable heart felt read

Reading this book felt like watching a girl being mentally unravelled while she's admitted in a mental hospital was very disturbing. The story inspired from true events and that just breaks my heart a little more. The writing is very soul piercing.

Sixteen-year-old Deborah's identity is shattering as she retreats further from her real world and into her imaginary kingdom of Yr. Sent to a psychiatric hospital she tries to find her way back. This fictionalized autobiography is a wrenching account of mental illness.

From the beginning the prose is wonderful. The writing is so good with telling descriptions and it just flows beautifully. The subject, however, is quite difficult.

The parents reluctantly agree that their daughter needs professional help as they can no longer cope with her. The characters feel real, well defined, and three-dimensional. It's a sad but honest story but quite difficult to read in places. We are constantly reminded of the stigma attached to mental illness.

I'm glad that I read it but would only recommend it to those who either have an interest in mental illness or how the medical world has changed over a few short decades.

My thanks to #NetGalley, #PenguinPressUK for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Being published many decades ago this novel may wrongfully suggested to be outdated. However I would reconsider, this case study of this fictional young woman’s struggles is just as poignant and important to read today. This fictional exploration of how schizophrenia was treated and institutionalised was deeply powerful and the plot brings this novel great beauty.

Joanne Greenberg (aka Hannah Green) published her semi-autobiographical novel in 1964 but it looks back to the 1940s and the period directly post WW2 that she spent incarcerated in a private mental health facility. Here Greenberg becomes 16-year-old Deborah Blau locked in her elaborate fantasy world the Kingdom of Yr, periodically resurfacing in the real world only to find it filled with terror, both outer and inner. At the hospital she becomes the patient of Dr Fried, someone who understands the realities Deborah’s grappling with, both are Jewish, both have encountered vicious, destabilising forms of anti-Semitism, in Fried’s case leading to a perilous escape from her home in Nazi Germany. Greenberg’s style can be a little ponderous, dense and mannered, sometimes slipping into melodrama, but it’s still a compelling, thought-provoking piece. And, in many ways, a surprising one because it’s not totally focused on one individual’s mental processes or their direct experience of institutionalisation. Although Deborah’s obviously central, Greenberg brings in other perspectives, unusual in a narrative of this kind from this era. So, alongside Deborah’s viewpoint are those of her parents, sister, doctors and nurses.

It's a meticulously detailed, convincing portrait of the treatment of patients deemed “mentally unfit”, in Deborah’s case her auditory and visual hallucinations earn her the label of schizophrenia, but it’s also a gripping portrayal of mainstream, American culture in the 1940s. In this scenario it’s clear that the so-called “normal” society is itself a strange and dangerous place, not least in the hypocrisy of a nation caught up in the myth of fighting for the good against Hitler’s regime while riddled with discrimination and segregation when it comes to America’s own Jewish communities. Deborah’s family and her experiences are a potent reminder of the prejudice and hatred too often directed at Jewish immigrant families and their descendants. And Greenberg’s narrative is intent on blurring any conventional boundaries between the “sick” and the “well”.

But when it comes to attitudes and approaches taken to mental health disorders, Greenberg’s story also contradicts casual assumptions about linear progress. Unlike Antonia White in Beyond the Glass or Elizabeth Taylor threatened with lobotomy in Suddenly Last Summer or Olivia de Haviland in The Snake Pit confronted with the “freakishness” of what she might become if she doesn’t succumb to brutal, shock therapy, there’s no danger of Greenberg’s novel being read as a kind of horror/cautionary tale about our murky past. Yes, there are practices here that now seem barbaric but there’s also an enviable focus on each patient’s needs as a whole person, as well as an awareness of the role that money, or lack of it, plays. It’s a stark contrast to the present-day emphasis on quick fix, better living through chemistry, and the tendency to place responsibility for coping with the world’s uncertainties on the individual, instead Dr Fried concentrates on talk therapy, time, and on bonding with Deborah. Fried’s stance highlights the complex interactions between an individual, their society and their cultural context, which for Deborah also includes rigid expectations linked to her gender and stifling notions of the appropriately feminine.

The character of Dr Fried’s a thinly-veiled version of Greenberg’s actual psychiatrist Dr Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, a refugee from pre-WW2 Germany. Fromm-Reichmann’s stature in her field made Greenberg’s book of particular interest to mental health professionals, not least because of its controversial claim of someone recovering from a supposedly-incurable condition without surgical, or other extensive medical interventions. It’s hard to work out how appropriate that kind of criticism is, especially since schizophrenia at the time was essentially a garbage term applied to a broad range of behaviours and symptoms. But Greenberg herself has lived for many years now without any recurrence of her hallucinations, so it’s clear that Fried’s approach worked for her. This Penguin edition comes with a foreword by Esme Weijun Wang and an afterword by the author.

First published in 1964, this book has some themes in common with Janet Frame's Faces in the Water (1961), Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (1963). I admire those novels for their writing style and memorable characters, as well as for their explorations of mental illness and their exposures of abusive mental healthcare staff. I feel that Greenberg's novel is comparatively lacking in terms of good structure and gripping writing style. However, the content is similarly hard-hitting, perhaps the most uncomfortable of all, with its focus on self-harm, anti-Semitism and schizophrenia.

The narrative follows 16-year-old Deborah Blau, who is admitted to a hospital where Dr Fried takes on her case. Together they try to help Deborah conquer her demons, which are literally manifested in a frightening alternative world. We also follow Deborah's parents and their complex feelings about their daughter's illness. Dr Fried's thoughts are occasionally explored too.

I think this book is courageous and uncompromising. It's very intense, not the kind of book you want to read a lot of in one sitting. The plot wasn't very clear, which I find is sometimes a failing of autobiographical fiction, but maybe if the author had taken a step back and worked more on constructing the plot, the content might have lost some of its power.

I wouldn't want to re-read I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, but I think it definitely deserves new readers.

[This review will be on my blog, 1st May]

The fact that Greenberg's novel is based on true events makes the reading experience even more heart-breaking; well-written, with fleshed-out characters and flowing yet sharp writing styl.e.

I felt very uncomfortable reading this book, which suggests the story has done exactly what the author wanted. There’s nothing nice and predictable about a teenage girl being put in a “mental hospital,” and then having to watch her complete unravelling.

Content Warning: Suicide, mental health, self-harm, psychosis, schizophrenia

Set, and written, in the 1960s the novel follows Deborah, who is sent to the hospital by her parents following a suicide attempt. Although some of the language sounds dated at times, it’s a terrifying account of her time in the hospital. I couldn’t believe some of the treatments – like being strapped to a soaking wet bet with icepacks around her when she experiences a severe breakdown. The story beautifully interweaves Deborah’s experiences in the hospital, and also what’s taking place within her head.

It’s hard to say I enjoyed this book because it was very disturbing. But I think more people should read it to find out what happened in such recent history. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press UK for the advanced e-ARC.

I seem to be in the minority here, but I really couldn’t get into this book. I didn’t connect to it on any level and I was just so.. bored. Nothing really happens, and even though it was obviously written more as a character driven than a plot driven novel, there was nothing for me to care about. It was just flat, and I was just waiting for something interesting to happen, yet nothing ever did.

There was no emotion, just nothing but the author telling me what was happening, rather than showing me through the conflict. It was also hard to follow the story (which is probably in part because of the protagonist’s psychosis pushing her into the other world inside her head). It did, however, give me some insight about what it’s like to live with schizophrenia, which isn’t something you often see written about.

Overall, I expected more from such a highly regarded book. However, I think it just wasn’t for me. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

An interesting read, both into the mind of someone with mental illness , and in how they were treated.
Both in the mental hospital, and outside of it.
At times an uncomfortable read, and definitely an eye opener.
I can't say I enjoyed it, but it's given me a lot to think about.