11 Banned Books by Women to Read Right Now

(Image via Vintage)

5.) Girl, Interrupted, Susanna Kaysen

What it’s about

Susanna Kaysen’s 1993 memoir portrays her stay at a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. After being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, Kaysen is admitted to the McLean Hospital in Massachusetts at the age of 18. Instead of staying for only two weeks, as originally planned, Kaysen was forced to spend over a year at the facility.

Her memoir does not follow a linear structure but instead related her experiences with the doctors and other inmates of McLean Hospital through a series of stories and vignettes.

Why it was banned or challenged

Once again, the majority of challengers complained about the book’s profanity and sexual content. In 2006, school officials removed Girl, Interrupted from the curriculum of Maine’s Orono High School. In 2009, officials in a New York community tore out pages from numerous school copies of the book. The local Board of Education announced that it would replace fifty copies. Parents and other adults were also likely uncomfortable with the frank accounts of mental illness, addiction, and self-harm that are depicted in the book.

Why you should read it

Girl, Interrupted is an honest, unflinching account of mental illness in mid-century America. Yes, we all know that you’ve seen the movie, but give this memoir a chance.