A Child of Royalty

Diana Ketterman grew up in an idyllic rural town, surrounded by family and playmates but isolated by her home life, which was shaped by profound illness and instability. Her mother struggled for years with undiagnosed mental illness, becoming increasingly erratic and hyper-religious as her untreated symptoms increased in severity. Diana's father struggled to cope with his wife's strange behavior-often resorting to violence-even as he succumbed to his own personality-altering brain tumor. Caught in the middle are three young children certain their life is not "normal" but unsure who to turn to for help in this maelstrom of violence and chaos and neglect, shamed into silence by a stigma they don't quite understand. Recounted with the touching guilelessness of a confused oldest child but tempered by the wisdom of a woman who has fought her way through a maze of jumbled emotions and abuse to emerge a successful, well-adjusted adult, this is one woman's amazing story of hope and suffering. This book is a must-read for anyone affected by mental illness, it provides clear insight into the confusion and isolation that so often accompanies the silent suffering of those tormented by mental illness-and the ones who love them.