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The Fifth Floor

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About this listen

Seven-year-old Anna was smiling when she was given the news. It’s not that she misunderstood what she heard, but her smile froze as her brain stopped thinking and her breathing slowed. To her older sister Frances, Anna’s smile looked like one of ignorance and foolishness, but both were misconceptions. Anna’s smile was one of horror. She was the reason Liz would not be returning home.

In this single moment, Anna’s childhood shifted from happy-go-lucky to an emotional rollercoaster of destruction and guilt. A decade later and suppressed by her childhood secret, 17-year-old Anna barely hangs on to daily life, but many things can go unnoticed in a large family. That is, until Anna stops eating altogether.

Far beyond what her family fully understands, Anna’s situation is about to get worse when late one night, sitting quiet and alone on the same couch where it all began ten years earlier, her mother asks, “What are you doing?” and Anna responds, “Waiting for Liz.” Bewildered, Anna’s mother turns to Dr. Ellison, a relaxed and competent psychiatrist who immediately hospitalizes Anna on the fifth floor of Advocated Hospital. Ten years is a long time to harbor a secret. Will Anna reveal the truth?

©2015 Julie Oleszek (P)2023 Julie Oleszek
Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Human Brain

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Listener received this title free

A very compelling story of mental health in a young woman and her road to recovery. Not an easy read.

Look at mental health.

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Listener received this title free

Good characterisation and detail in this story of a troubled teen and path to recovery.

Good story of a troubled teen

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