Structure

Hidden Valley Road is divided into three parts, plus a prologue. The three parts are of varying lengths though the first two are similar in their scope, including 17 and 22 chapters respectively. Part Three is considerably shorter with just five chapters. The chapters could be categorized into two distinct types that are interwoven to create the book’s structure. Some chapters focus on the personal narratives of the Galvin family, while others are about the medical researchers studying schizophrenia and the work that they have done over the past century or so.

Readers can easily tell which type of chapter they are about to embark upon because of structural elements that Kolker at chosen to include at the start of each one. Chapters about the science and medicine feature a date and location under the chapter heading while chapters about the Galvin family include a list of family...