Chapters 1-5

Greenberg's I Never Promised You a Rose Garden opens with the protagonist, Deborah Blau in the backseat as her parents, Esther and Jacob Blau, drive along country roads. Although the setting at first appears idyllic, with Esther even suggesting that the family is on a pleasure trip, there is mention of mounting tensions. The parents are concerned, for example, about leaving their daughter on her own when they stop at a diner for coffee. They are also concerned at night, when they leave their daughter in her separate motel room. Their anxiety rises again as they discuss the real reason for the trip, which is to take their daughter to a mental hospital.

When the focus of the story turns to Deborah, readers are told about the Kingdom of Yr, the imaginary world into which Deborah retreats. In this place, Deborah feels no tension. It is...