Violet's sister, Rose, starts experiencing schizophrenia as a teenager. Violet remembers Rose before the mental illness hit her, as a beautiful, wonderful older sister. When Rose is fifteen, she has her first psychotic break. Rose's mother, a musician, realizes that Rose is "going crazy," even though the father, a psychiatrist, does not realize this. The mother takes Rose to a hospital that day, beginning Rose's ten-year odyssey back and forth to one hospital or halfway house after another.

Rose has many bad therapists and only a few good ones. The family—Violet; the mother, Galen; and the father, David—also participate in family counseling. Violet recalls the best family therapist they had, a doctor named Dr. Thorne. Under Dr. Thorne's care, Rose does much better and gains more control of her compulsive behaviors. She is able to move into a halfway house, loses weight...