Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty A fresh fall of snow blanketed the asylum grounds—not a Christmas sprinkle, but a man-high January deluge, the sort that snuffs out schools and offices and churches, and leaves, for a day or more, a pure, blank sheet in place of memo pads, date books and calendars.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen 'I'm going to be a psychiatrist.' Joan spoke with her usual breathy enthusiasm. We were drinking apple cider in the Belsize lounge.

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen 'Esther.' I woke out of a deep, drenched sleep, and the first thing I saw was Doctor Nolan's face swimming in front of me and saying, 'Esther, Esther.'

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen 'You're a lucky girl today.' The young nurse cleared my breakfast tray away and left me wrapped in my white blanket like a passenger taking the sea air on the deck of a ship.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen Joan's room, with its closet and bureau and table and chair and white blanket with the big blue C on it, was a mirror image of my own.