I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (Plot Summary)

Plot Summary

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 a neutral place, where her parents and her future do not faze her.

The next day, the family arrives at the mental hospital, a slightly rundown Victorian complex set in woods. The parents are disturbed by the bars on the windows and the disheveled patients who peer out of them. They rethink their reasons for bringing their daughter there. Both parents are torn between doing what might be right for their daughter and their guilt for bringing her to this place and for anything they might have done during Deborah's childhood to have caused the problems she now faces.

At the beginning of chapter two, the focus turns back to Deborah, describing her new environment, how she is constantly watched by nurses and attendants, and how she is watched in her inside world by the guardians and rulers of the Kingdom of Yr. Meanwhile, Esther and Jacob decide to lie to their younger daughter, Suzy, about Deborah's sudden absence from the family. They also choose not to tell other members of the family.

Introduced next is Dr. Fried, a prominent psychologist who is world renowned for her effectiveness in communicating with mentally ill people. Fried reads Deborah's records and discovers that Deborah is very intelligent and suffers from schizophrenia.

In chapter three, readers observe the daily routine of hospital life. Deborah has met Carla, a fellow patient. Together they try to find out how long they will have to stay in the hospital. No one is able to answer their questions.

In her first session with Dr. Fried, Deborah discovers that she has opened up her true feelings, maybe for the first time in her life. Dr. Fried is honest with Deborah, supplying her with direct answers instead of attempting to soften things. She tells Deborah, for example, that yes, she does believe that Deborah belongs in the mental hospital because she is definitely sick. Dr. Fried also tells Deborah that she hopes one day to help her to see the world as a more beautiful place than the one Deborah sees at the present.

Dr. Fried announces in chapter four that she has received a letter from Deborah's parents and that they want to make a visit. Deborah tells the doctor she wants only her mother to visit, not her father. Deborah senses that the hospital is going to be good for her. She is concerned that her love for her father and his for her will weaken her if she sees him.

Esther Blau makes the visit to the hospital. Esther wants to know if her daughter will ever get better. Dr. Fried tells her that it will take a lot of patience. Then the doctor asks Esther for a family history. Esther describes her relationship with her own father and his relationship with Deborah, whom he adored but also placed a lot of pressure on because of her good looks and intelligence. Pop, as Esther calls her grandfather, had a lot of money and often supported Esther and Jacob when Jacob could not meet the family expenses. The support Pop gave came at a price. Pop was also domineering.

Esther then describes some of the symptoms that she noticed that made her realize that Deborah may not be well. Deborah hardly slept, for one thing. She also developed a tumor and had to have a very painful operation that seemed to affect her personality. At age ten, a school psychologist told Esther that the results of a test indicated that Deborah might be disturbed. At the end of the conversation, Dr. Fried suggests that Esther be completely honest with Deborah from now on.

Chapters 6-14

Chapter six begins with Dr. Fried asking Deborah to give an account of her life. Deborah replies that her mother has already done that. Dr. Fried assures her that Esther gave only one side of the story. In the process of telling her version, Deborah begins to give Dr. Fried a glimpse into her private world of Yr.

Later, Carla reappears and tells Deborah that the reason she went crazy was that her mother shot her and her brother, then shot herself. Her mother and brother died from their wounds. Carla could not adjust to their deaths, especially when her father remarried. Then the girls discuss various aspects of the hospital. They are in Ward B, which allows certain privileges, such as walking around the grounds of the hospital unescorted. There is another section, Ward D, where patients are under constant supervision. Patients there were considered in the worst state of their illnesses.

In her next session with Dr. Fried, Deborah relates how she was often taunted with anti-Semitic slurs by children her age. Dr. Fried, who is German, can relate to Deborah's anger. Deborah is impressed by Dr. Fried's empathy. However, when Deborah returns to her ward, her inner world rises against her for trusting Dr. Fried. In response to all the shouts of anger inside her head, Deborah uses a piece of tin to rip the skin on her arms. When her self-inflicted injury is discovered, Deborah is moved to Ward D.

Lee, a fellow patient who is introduced at the beginning of chapter seven, refers to herself as a psychotic and says that Deborah is a psychotic too. Deborah also meets the patient in the bed next to her, a woman who thinks she is the first wife of Edward VIII, king of England. Later, when Dr. Fried asks to see Deborah's wounds, she does not act shocked or condescending. Once again, Deborah is impressed with the doctor and tells her more about Yr. Because she has opened up once again, Deborah falls into a psychotic state once she is returned to her ward. She is wrapped into a cold, rubber sheet and strapped in for several hours until she is once again able to communicate.

It is next revealed that the patients know intuitively where the attendants' psychological weaknesses are and how they attack them. The attendant called Mr. Hobbs, for instance, always seems to be the target of these attacks, and patients believe that Mr. Hobbs is afraid of them because he himself is on the verge of going crazy.

Deborah is with Dr. Fried again at the beginning of chapter nine. She tells the doctor about some school experiences. She says that she could never understand why children, whom Deborah thought were friends, would come to her and suggest that Deborah had done mean things to them. Deborah claims that she has no recollection of ever doing anything wrong to them.

Dr. Fried notices Deborah's anger growing as she relates these stories. Dr. Fried believes this is a healthy sign. It is better for Deborah to be angry than to be apathetic. She anticipates, however, that the internal battle that Deborah will have to fight will be a major one.

Carla appears on Ward D. Deborah is surprised to see her there, wondering what Carla has done to have forced her to leave Ward B. Carla tells Deborah that she came up to Ward D so she could yell and scream and get all the anger out.

Later, Deborah overhears a conversation about Doris Rivera, a patient who was once in Ward D but was able to make her way out and is living outside the hospital. The thought of Doris gives everyone hope, although it also causes them to fear facing the outside world. When the fear becomes too great, all the patients start reacting strangely. Some get into physical fights, while others retreat so far into their own private worlds, they become unaware of the world around them. Deborah wakes up to find herself in the cold sheets again. Carla, too, is wrapped in the rubber sheets in the bed next to Deborah.

The story jumps back to Esther, who has become worried about her daughter because she has been transferred to Ward D. Esther asks for and receives an appointment with Dr. Fried, who tries to assure her that Deborah is in a natural process of her illness. But Dr. Fried cannot promise that Deborah will come out of this phase any better than she was. Esther leaves without being able to see her daughter.

Later in a session with Dr. Fried, Deborah tells the doctor that she has psychologically poisoned her sister Suzy. She talks about her jealousy and in the process exposes to the doctor how much Deborah dislikes herself. She also relates how she tried to kill her sister.

Chapter eleven begins with the news that Hobbs has committed suicide. It was not unexpected as far as the patients were concerned. They had often picked on Hobbs, sensing his refusal to accept his own insanity. At this point McPherson, another attendant, appears. Unlike Hobbs, McPherson is able to kid with the patients as well as laugh at himself. The patients tease but do not taunt him. They like and respect him. The patients and McPherson do not like Hobbs's replacement, Ellis, a conscientious objector and in the ward by default. He chose this work over going to prison. He is an angry person and is often mean to the patients. The patients continue to ridicule Ellis until McPherson approaches Deborah and asks her to lay off Ellis. McPherson, without outright telling her, suggests that Ellis is a mentally ill person himself. Ellis is not as lucky as Deborah, McPherson tells her. Ellis cannot afford the treatment that someone like Deborah can.

In the next session with Dr. Fried, the doctor encourages Deborah to go back into her history and relive some of the memories in an attempt to correct the errors that Deborah has stored. When Deborah returns to her ward, in chapter thirteen, she must pay the consequences of having opened up to Dr. Fried. She becomes lost in Yr and must be wrapped, once again, in cold sheets. As Deborah is returning to consciousness, she notices that one of the patients, Helene, is in a cold pack too. Ellis enters the room to take Helene's pulse. When she fights him, Ellis slaps her in the face several times. The next day when Deborah reports the abuse to a ward nurse, little is done about it. At Deborah's next meeting with Dr. Fried, Deborah repeats the details of the incident. Dr. Fried promises to bring this situation to the attention of the authorities.

In chapter fourteen, Esther and Jacob both visit Dr. Fried, who denies them a visit with their daughter. Deborah's sense of reality is shaky, Dr. Fried tells them, and Deborah's appearance would upset them. Deborah has lost all desire to groom herself. Jacob, however, insists that it is his right to see his daughter; so Dr. Fried relents.

On the way home, Esther and Jacob talk about their visit. They were both shocked by Deborah's appearance, not because of Deborah's unkempt hair but for the vacancy they saw in her eyes, as if she no longer had a presence in her body.

In their next meeting, Dr. Fried, whom Deborah now refers to by the nickname of Furii, talks to Deborah and coaxes out memories of her father. In the discussion the possibility is hinted that Deborah felt her father's sexual attraction for her. Upon exposing this feeling, Deborah cries, for the first time, in front of Dr. Fried. It is a release. Dr. Fried tells her that they are on the right path. She will help Deborah to reach the path of health. Once there, Deborah can decide if she wants to enter the world of health or remain in Yr.

At the end of this chapter, the patient Miss Coral appears. She is beloved among the patients. Despite her small 90-pound body, Miss Coral has been known to pick up and throw beds. She is an intelligent, well educated woman, who eventually tutors Deborah in Greek and Latin.

Chapters 15-23

During the next chapters, Deborah's education with Miss Coral continues. Carla's health is strengthened, and Carla returns to Ward B. As Carla leaves, Deborah realizes the depth of their friendship. Carla suggests that Deborah try to get permission to go down to Ward B, at least to visit her.

Esther, in the meantime, finally tells Suzy the truth about her sister. Suzy takes the news a lot easier than her parents had anticipated. She even mentions that she misses Deborah and wishes she would come home.

In her session with Dr. Fried, Deborah explains the Censor and talks about how it was developed to protect her from telling Yr's secrets. But then, the Censor became stronger, to the point that everything that Deborah said was controlled by the Censor. Dr. Fried tells Deborah that she is not a victim but rather a fighter. She can fight for her mental health.

Because Deborah has exposed yet another secret, she knows that she will be punished mentally. When she returns to the ward, she asks for the cold sheet. She suspects she will become wild as she fights her interior battles. Later, when she comes to, there are other patients in their own cold packs. They realize they have been in them longer than usual, maybe five or six hours instead of the normal three. Deborah's circulation is cut off, and she is in physical pain. Someone finally comes and lets her out.

Doris Rivera enters the scene in chapter seventeen. Doris was almost a mythical person to the patients. She was one of the few who made it out into the world. The patients used the thought of Doris as a symbol of hope. But she frightened them because the patients were fearful of getting well. But now, here she is, returned and defeated. Then a new fear breaks inside of the patients. If Doris could not make it, can any one?

During her next appointment, Deborah tells Dr. Fried about her experience in camp when she was a child. She had met Eugenia and had sensed that they had secrets in common, though they never came right out and talked about them. One day, Deborah found Eugenia standing naked in the bathhouse. Eugenia asked Deborah to beat her with a belt. She insisted that she needed the beating. Deborah could not do it and never had anything to do with Eugenia again.

Then Deborah finds that Carla has been returned to Ward D. When she first sees Carla, Deborah thinks Carla looks broken. Later, Carla tells Deborah that she has not given up. She just tried too much too fast. Then they both learn that Doris has made it again and has left the hospital.

Deborah learns that Dr. Fried is leaving to attend a symposium. She'll be gone for three months. Deborah decides that she will work harder, wanting to be healed before Dr. Fried leaves. She asks for and is granted permission to move to Ward B. At another session, Dr. Fried announces that Dr. Royson will take her place while she is gone. After Dr. Fried leaves, Deborah meets with Dr. Royson but does not like him. He invades Deborah's world of the Yr without asking permission, and Deborah withdraws in fright. She also feels abandoned by Dr. Fried.

In her fury and confusion, Deborah feels a volcano rising within her. She anticipates a great fire. In order to offset this internal fire, she thinks she needs to set an exterior one. She pilfers matches and old cigarette butts and burns herself repeatedly on the arms. Infection develops, but this does not stop her. She continues to inflict pain on her body.

Dr. Fried finally returns and is surprised that Deborah has slipped back into her sickness. She helps Deborah understand what is happening inside of her. Deborah confides that she is worried about the volcano inside of her. Deborah hates herself for her situation. Dr. Fried tells her to try to comprehend that the degree of hate Deborah feels could be transformed into a like measure of love.

Finally, in Deborah's world, the volcano explodes. Deborah feels as if there has been a great collision. She tries to explain it to Dr. Fried, but her communication skills have all but left her. She finally is able to tell Dr. Fried that the power she feels inside of her is a mixture of fear and hatred, and she is worried about not being able to control them. As days pass, Deborah sinks deeper into her silent world. She hears others talking about her who are concerned that she is getting sicker. When Dr. Fried asks what Deborah thinks about that, Deborah states that she is tired of thinking. Dr. Fried is relentless until Deborah is finally able to say that she believes she is not sicker at all.

Slowly, Deborah regains her strength. She begins to distinguish colors and forms that appear new to her. She tells Dr. Fried that she thinks she will live. On Ward B, Deborah continues to get stronger. Carla is with her, and the two friends walk outside together, go to craft classes together, and talk to one another more than they ever have before.

Dr. Fried opens one of Deborah's deep secrets: Deborah's belief that she tried to kill her sister when Suzy was a baby. Dr. Fried proves to Deborah that she was too small to have picked the baby up and to have attempted to throw her out a window. She makes Deborah realize that this is an imagined memory that expresses Deborah's jealousy about the new baby's arrival. Deborah celebrates the lifting of the guilt she has felt all those years.

Chapters 24-29

Deborah makes great progress toward health. It does not happen quickly, but it is steady. She explores the community around her, going to a church and joining the choir. She often walks past the high school, yearning for her degree but unable to face going back to get it.

She returns home for short visits. During one, her sister, although happy to see her, is tired of all the attention that Deborah receives from their parents. Deborah learns that Suzy has passed up an opportunity to go out with her friends. She feels bad about having caused this imposition. Suzy lies about this not affecting her, which only makes matters worse. Deborah thinks about Yr and realizes that she is at the crossroads where she must choose one world or the other.

When Deborah returns to the hospital after this visit, a new patient, Carmen, is there. Deborah is attracted to Carmen and her honesty. Around this same time, Deborah and Carla decide to run outside the perimeter of the hospital grounds, which is against the rules. They are not gone long but the trip exhilarates them. Dr. Halle learns of their misconduct but decides not to punish them. Carmen's father comes a few days later and insists that his daughter is not sick and takes her home. Deborah reads in the newspaper a few days later that Carmen has committed suicide.

Deborah applies to live off the grounds and is granted permission. She rents a room from Mrs. King, who is new to the town and not afraid of the fact that Deborah is a mental patient. Deborah next wants to get a job, but she knows she must first have a high school diploma. She learns about the possibility of getting her G.E.D. and is finally enrolled in a tutoring program through which she can take specialized classes and pass exams without having to actually attend high school. She studies hard and eventually earns her degree with a high enough score that makes her eligible for college. But she still suffers. She fears she will never really fit into the world. This fear causes her to have another psychotic episode. She runs back to the hospital and suffers through it. When she comes out of it, she sees the looks on the faces of the patients. They do not like seeing that she has had to come back. The story ends, however, with Deborah asking for more books. She is still willing to fight.

Media Adaptations

• I Never Promised You a Rose Garden was adapted as a film by Gavin Lambert and Lewis John Carlino in 1977 and starred Kathleen Quinlan as Deborah and Bibi Andersson as Dr. Fried. It was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award.