How does the author use the concept of appearances versus reality in the novel, Close to the Edge?

Jenny Hartley appears to be living a dream life. She is smart, beautiful, rich, and popular. She drives a Porsche, vacations by skiing in Aspen, and has a handsome boyfriend. She lives in a nice house, has lots of friends, and seems to have a limitless future. But it is all a facade; her life, in her own mind, is a nightmare that she is trying to escape. As the book opens, Jenny comes "close to the edge" of ending her life as she is racked with deep, dark feelings of depression, loneliness, and hopelessness.